1275 

B4 

y 1 




022 204 319 0i 



PESKY PROBLEMS 
for POSITIVE 
PREACHERS 



I do not ask 

For easy task, 

I crave not fame or power; 

I ask to serve 

Humanity 

In Mankind's darkest hour. 

J. M. B. 



PESKY PROBLEMS 
for POSITIVE 
PREACHERS 

By 

james McGregor beatty 

Author of 

"Illustrious Madmen of the Ages," 

Etc. 




Published by 

The TORCH PRESS Inc. 

NEW YORK 

1921 

Address all communications to James McGregor Beatty, 245 N. Hope, 
Los Angeles, Cal. 






■p 

3* 



Copyright, 1921 
By 

james McGregor beatty 

Los Angeles, Cal. 



M 131921 



J. F. Rowny Press, Los Angeles . 

[iv] 



©CU614698 



'■■ s 



DEDICATION 

This little book of "Pesky Problems" 
is given to the world in the name of 
Truth, some of its sentences being dic- 
tated by my father in spirit, who in 
earth life was a "Positive Preacher." 
We join with loving affection in dedicat- 
ing this book, as a well-earned tribute, 
to MY MOTHER, Mrs. Elizabeth M. 
Beatty, my helper and co-worker in the 
cause of Truth. 

James McGregor Beatty. 



Men are four : 

He who knows, and knows he knows, 

He is wise — follow him. 

He who knows, and knows not he knows, 

He is asleep — wake him. 

He who knows not, and knows not he knows not, 

He is a fool — shun him. 

He who knows not, and knows he knows not, 

He is a child — teach him. 

— Arabian Proverb. 



[vi] 



INTRODUCTION 

The author has a desire to bring before his readers 
the facts herein, not alone for the purpose of producing 
evidence of the sad lack of real knowledge regarding the 
subject of continuity of life, nor by reason of the posi- 
tive positions taken by most of the clergymen upon a 
subject (by their own admission), entirely unknown to 
them ; for genuine knowledge is unobtainable from them ; 
but, specially for the purpose of proving, if possible, to 
the reader, that there is NO death; and to show that 
life beyond so-called " death,' ' is absolutely a scientific- 
ally proven fact. This, however, can only be proven in- 
dividually by research and study, just the same as the 
student would prove any other scientific subject. The 
writer well understands the natural scepticism of the 
persons who are entirely ignorant of this branch of 
Science. 

But, if a man or woman be ignorant of everything per- 
taining to this greatest of all subjects, and has never 
truly investigated Spiritualism, it would seem to follow 
that such opinion should count for naught, but this is 
not generally the case. In a gathering of unscientific 
people, where the conversation turns to Astronomy, 
Chemistry, or the Radio Telephone, all who have not 
studied these subjects will reply, ''I'm interested, but 
I haven't gone into the subject very far;" or, "It's 
wonderful, but it's too deep for me." Just mention 
Spiritualism, however, or "Life after Death," or 
"Psychical Research," and all those who have not even 
studied the subject, or investigated it, profess to know 
absolutely what can be done, and what cannot be done ; 
or, if it is to be done at all it must be accomplished as 

[vii] 



viii Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

they suggest — or they will not believe in it; for, "they 
have seen these things exposed in the movies.' ' 

This class of people exhibit ignorance of the subject, 
but the sad part of it is, that a large proportion of so- 
called religious persons are the most insistent that it 
is absolutely unprovable. Surely their opinion cannot 
be of real value, for they have no knowledge, according 
to their own admission. 

If this book does nothing more than influence some 
reader to realize that there is NO INFALLIBILITY on 
any subject ; and discovery of this, leads him to inquiry 
and investigation — if I can so inspire YOU, I shall be 
greatly repaid for my efforts. 

It must be admitted that all should be interested in 
this subject, regardless of one's rank, creed, color, or 
even the religion we find ourselves affiliated with; for 
after all, one's religious belief is generally the result 
of up-bringing. On the other hand, one 's religious knowl- 
edge is generally the effect of past experience, as the 
result of a desire for the truth. The searcher must 
show a willingness to forget all previous creeds, and 
dogmas, in order to be able to think honestly for himself. 

Everyone who reads this printed page, like the entire 
human race, must one day lay down this mortal vehicle, 
this physical temple, and begin to function in another 
world ; it may, or it may not be, in a spiritual body, and 
on another plane. 

The question follows — on what plane? This depends 
entirely upon ourselves — our thoughts, our actions, and 
our life ! We alone, can steer our own soul to the goal 
of life, here, and hereafter. We alone must give the 
smile or the helping hand. We alone can change our 
life in order to lift ourselves up to the highest plane; 
to the real Universal church anticipation, as forecast by 
the Christ himself. We alone must think our own 
thoughts, and live our own lives ! We alone must shape 
and mould our individual character, and bring it into 
harmony with the thoughts instilled into us by the 



Introduction ix 

Higher Powers. We alone MUST LIVE OUR OWN 
PHYSICAL LIFE! I, alone, can save myself from 
MYSELF ! 

The writer, years ago, belonged to a Psychical Re- 
search Society in which were represented many sects and 
religions, including the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, 
Theosophist, Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox, and Buddhist. 
This association, with others, opened my eyes to the 
fact that a person's religion has not one thing to do 
with Life's Futurity; all of these religions definitely 
teach us to believe in an after life, yet the Spiritualist 
Religion is the only one asked to prove scientifically, 
beyond dispute, its religious teachings. 

No one ever suggests asking a Methodist to prove 
beyond question that his friends "passed on," are not 
still interested in the world they live in. A Baptist 
preacher has not one iota of proof that his dead friends 
are not functioning in another world. 

The Catholic religion teaches that a true servant of 
the church must take the word of the priest, as beyond 
question, that the loved ones gone on, are in or out of 
Purgatory, and are now suffering, or happy. None how- 
ever, leave Purgatory, until their friends have paid well 
for their release, by means of priestly prayers. 

The Orthodox Church of today is not giving knowl- 
edge of the Life after Death as taught by Christ! is 
not even giving guidance to that end; therefore, those 
of us, who want to know, must necessarily seek elsewhere 
than in the orthodox Theology for information as to 
Futurity. 

Let all who are truly desirous of learning the truth of 
religion, and the principles governing earth life, come 
out boldly and examine, so far as God has given him 
the mental ability, those facts in Nature from which he 
can deduce the will of God. These facts can be very 
easily verified by the honest inquirer today, despite the 
fact that this is discouraged by some of the so-called 
Christian Churches. 



x Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

The Biblical proof (if such it may be called), is liter- 
ally accepted, by many as really happening and as de- 
tailed many hundreds of years ago ; others again, oppose 
it as unproven today, in the light of scientific investiga- 
tion. 

Millions believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and 
that Jesus, Peter, James and John saw Moses and Elias 
after they had been dead many hundreds of years ; yet, 
when told that this very thing can be seen today in 
Psychical Circles all over the world, they refuse to 
believe it. Even though such scientists as Sir Oliver 
Lodge, Flammarion, Sir ¥m. Crooks and Wallace have 
studied these phenomena IN THEIR OWN HOMES. 

Bible students will constantly dwell on the thought 
that Peter spoke while in trance, but illogically refuse 
to admit that trance speaking is today proven (the 
world over) to millions of thoughtful, intelligent men 
and women. 

When told that the writer has had proofs, absolute 
and undeniable, in the privacy of his own home, that 
there is no death, unbelieving friends sneer and laugh, 
claiming them to be only pure imagination, wondering — 
and even suggesting — that he cannot really believe "such 
stuff!" 

Can anyone imagine a student of Astronomy, who 
really wanted to obtain knowledge of that science, refus- 
ing to look through a solar telescope? Can we believe 
it, if told that a student of Chemistry refuses to listen 
to the expert scientists who are prepared to teach him 
its mysteries, and who possess the knowledge to do so? 
or refusing to make personal experiments to verify the 
theories of Elementary Chemistry! I cannot imagine 
a student taking the standpoint that, because his profes- 
sors know all about his particular science, the student 
himself is justified in refusing to study, personally, on 
the grounds that the professor's knowledge was evidence 
sufficient. 



Introduction xi 

Neither can I imagine anyone seeking to know abont 
"life after Death" refusing to avail himself of what- 
ever opportunities offer for investigation and study, 
simply because certain preachers claim to know all about 
it, and assert that — as they are specially selected to ex- 
pound and dogmatize on religious subjects — laymen are 
not qualified to learn about such things; or that it is 
impossible to find out about them without being invested 
with power by a bishop, or other clerical dignitary. 

Few preachers know anything about the life beyond 
the grave ! Then why leave this great subject longer in 
their hands alone? 

The watchword of the Christian Church of the future 
must be " SERVICE" instead of sect or creed. FACTS, 
must guide instead of fantasy; and we MUST BELIEVE 
THAT WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE instead of believ- 
ing that if we have Faith we need not knowledge. 

"Seek and ye shall find" was the command of the 
Great Teacher of Life, and Love, to all mankind. Let 
nothing, therefore, hamper your freedom of thought! 
Read, study and think, for if you are to advance, no 
one can do your thinking for you ; no one can work out 
scientific or other problems in your own consciousness! 
That is your individual responsibility, your present and 
and future development! In the face of facts that to 
me, are indisputable, I cannot accept the average preach- 
er's dictum about the condition of the soul and spirit 
after they leave the body in the course of transition, 
from the earth life to the spiritual continuity. Many 
refuse to study or even investigate these matters. 

The Medieval Church taught that kings rule by Divine 
Right, but this teaching by the church was wrong, as 
it was promulgated for the sole purpose of absolute con- 
trol of the nations by Papal authority. The Church 
taught that Slavery was right because it was practiced 
in Biblical times. Now, we know that the teachings of 
the church and the interpretations placed upon the Bible 



xii Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

were both wrong. Thus the Church taught us that all 
there is to know about a future life must come through 
the clergy of the church, as they interpreted the Bible. 

If we are to believe fallacious theories we must admit 
the power of God has failed; and that a few Jews over 
nineteen hundred years ago received the last teachings 
ever to be given to mortal man about the soul. If we 
believe that we are incompetent to use our own brain 
power, and that God cannot train us to obey His will, 
without the intervention of church guidance, it follows 
that, if we try to find out any more about truth, "The 
Devil will get us!" 

Let us get away from such foolishness! It is a good 
thing for us poor mortals that God created great minds, 
thinkers, teachers, and exponents of True religion, and 
that they refused to be hand-cuffed, bound and gagged, 
mentally, or we should still be believing those false 
teachings, mendacious and selfishly devised doctrines. 

For over twenty years I was an active member of the 
Christian church, yet during that time it was never 
brought home to me that there was a veritable, existent 
spiritual world, leading one on to Immortal life. Nor 
was evidence produced that man had a soul, although 
I sought earnestly for such evidence. After investi- 
gating for many years in the various fields of higher 
thought, I found satisfactory, and I may honestly say, 
undoubted evidence in many startling ways, that man 
has a living soul. 

I received supernormal proof that THERE IS NO 
DEATH! Therefore, I submit to you, that, if you as 
an individual desire to learn the Truth, and seek it with 
the intensity I did, you will receive power that will 
place you within the ethereal flood of Divine Truth 
itself; you will awaken to a sense of your own share 
in the Divinity of God. You will know and feel per- 



Introduction xiii 

sonally the Truth — ' ' and the Truth shall make you free. ' ' 
May this freedom from prejudice guide you in the read- 
ing of these pages. 



H^TH^f^ 



Give us Love and give us Laughter, 
And a hand-clasp firm and true. 
Give us Help and lend us Courage, 
For the task 'tis ours to do. 
Give us Facts instead of Fancy, 
Show us Truth instead of Creed, 
Give us Love and Light and Kindness ; 
SERVICE, is the world's great need. 

J. M. B. 



xiv 



Table of Contents 



Introduction vii 

There Is Life After Death 17 

The Dead Do Communicate 29 

Where Is Heaven ? 52 

Hell-Fire Is Not Literal 81 

Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 101 

"Let There Be Light 124 



[XV] 



COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING. 



THEN 

St. Matthew, 12, 22. 

"Then was brought unto 
him one possessed with a 
devil, blind, and dumb: and 
he healed him, insomuch that 
the blind and dumb both 
spake and saw. And all the 
people were amazed, and 
said, Is not this the son of 
David? 1 But when the Phari- 
sees heard it, they said, This 
fellow does not cast out 
devils, but by Beelzebub the 
Prince of devils. And Jesus 
knew their thoughts and said 
unto them, Every kingdom 
divided against itself is 
brought desolation ; and every 
city or house divided against 
itself shall not stand: AND 
IF SATAN CAST OUT 
SATAN HE IS DIVIDED 
AGAINST HIMSELF; HOW 
SHALL THEN HIS KING- 
DOM STAND? AND IF I 
BY BEELZEBUB CAST 
OUT DEVILS, BY WHOM 
DO YOUR CHILDREN 
CAST THEM OUT? There- 
fore they shall be your 
judges. BUT IF I CAST 
OUT DEVILS BY THE 
SPIRIT OF GOD, THEN 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD 
IS COME UNTO YOU. 



NOW 

A sincere medium was 
giving Spirit messages, and 
it was good. And he helped 
many weary hearted, giving 
them comfort and a knowl- 
edge that we all live after 
the change called death. And 
the people were amazed at 
the marvelous tests given by 
the medium, and said: "This 
fellow does not give this in- 
formation, but by the power 
of the devil. He is aided by 
demons." But the medium 
knew their thoughts and 
said unto them: "A king- 
dom divided against itself 
cannot stand. IF THE 
DEVIL CAN HEAL AND 
GIVE TRUE SPIRIT MES- 
SAGES AND PROPHESY 
HE IS DIVIDED AGAINST 
HIMSELF. HOW SHALL 
THEN HIS KINGDOM 
STAND? And if the medium 
does these things by the 
power of the devil, by whom 
do the preachers do these 
things? All are known by 
their works. BUT IF THE 
MEDIUMS DO THESE 
THINGS BY THE SPIRIT 
OF GOD, THEN THE 
KINGDOM OF GOD HAS 
ALREADY COME UPON 
US. 



xvi 




THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH 

;HY has this momentous question been asked 
through countless generations? Why have 
similar questions exercised the minds of indi- 
viduals as well as philosophers, thinkers, and scientists 
for ages ? The scientific mind, whose soul craved knowl- 
edge of facts, sought, asked them, with a desire for the 
truth. The truly religious mind, weighted with priestly 
dogma and a sectarian desire to uphold its individual 
creed, asked them with a doubting fear of the possibility 
of learning that it might be mistaken in what it thought 
to be the truth ; knowing that if it received an absolute, 
authoritative answer, it would necessarily mean a re- 
linquishment of its former beliefs, or a development of 
indifference to any knowledge regarding life beyond 
the veil. 

Why does it seem necessary to investigate these great 
questions; "Is the soul or spirit conscious after death? 
And can it communicate with the living ? ' ' Has not every 
ancient religion taught it? If we are to believe the 
leaders of religious thought in the ages before Christ, 
even down to the present day, spirit communication is, 
and always has been an accepted fact. Many make the 
error of thinking that mediumship, or the power to com- 
municate with those who have passed away, and whom 
we call the dead, is alone claimed for and controlled by 
Spiritualists or their churches. 

Few Methodists are aware that John Wesley was a 
Spiritualist ; and that the phenomena of spiritualism took 
place in his parsonage at Epworth, England, but it is 
beyond dispute ! Further, a noted English Bishop, War- 

[17] 



18 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

burton by name, specially mentions certain strange "rap- 
pings and noises " as ' ' warnings from Providence against 
Methodism. ' ' He also charged John "Wesley with "un- 
scripturally healing the sick;" and he persecuted him 
in every possible way, just as many Methodists would 
today persecute Spiritualists. 

Dr. Adam Clarke, the famous Methodist commen- 
tator, testified to the truth of such manifestations, when 
he said, "I believe there is a supernatural and spiritual 
world, in which human spirits, both good and bad, live 
in a state of consciousness. I believe that any of these 
spirits may, according to the order of God, in the laws 
of their place of residence, have intercourse with this 
world, and become visible to mortals.' ' 

Trace the origin of every religion and you will find 
that all have emanated from spiritual manifestations, 
and developed by the use of gifts now called medium- 
istic ; it is practically certain that all religions have been 
leaders in actual communication with the spirit world, 
and presumably with the spirits of the so-called dead. 

The Founder of the Quaker religion was a Spiritual- 
ist, John Fox by name, and he both spoke in trance and 
saw visions. The Mormon bible was given to the people 
of Nephi in a series of visions and dreams. 

Buddha was the son of a king, and the founder of 
Buddhism, which now, almost three thousand years after 
his death, has more followers than any other religion, or 
any religious teacher in the world, including Christi- 
anity. The country of his birth, India, is the only one 
in the world that now has the same religion that it had 
at the birth of Christ, except Palestine. 

Gautama, as this Asiatic prince was called, was a spir- 
itualist (as we understand the term), conversed with 
spirits, and was told by a celestial messenger that he 
would go out into the world, and become the Saviour and 
Redeemer of the world. 

The Gospel of Buddha, Chapter 7, page 15, says: 



There Is Life After Death 19 

"Thou shalt be the Buddha, our Master and our Lord. 
Thou wilt enlighten the world and save mankind from 
perdition. Having thus spoken THE VISION VAN- 
ISHED, and his soul was filled with peace." There- 
fore the hundreds of millions of Buddhists in the world 
today, thirty centuries after the death of their leader, 
owe their religion to the psychic ability and the medium- 
istic powers of Guatama, the enlightened teacher! Is 
this not historical proof of scientific communication be- 
tween this and other worlds? 

The Koran of Mohammed is replete with visions, 
dreams and prophecy. Zoroaster, the great Persian re- 
ligious leader, was warned in visions and communicated 
with spirits. Then he must have been a spiritualist. 
Laotze, China's religious leader went into the spirit 
world in trance and conversed with his ancestors, and 
from them— now get this point! FROM THEM— (in 
the Spirit world) he received the principal ideas in his 
new religion. 

Madame Blavatsky, the founder of Modern Theosophy, 
was a medium; although some still deny it, there is 
absolute proof, and through her wonderful occult gifts 
she founded this great cult, which has spread over the 
world. ' ' The Roman Catholic church has always taught 
the existence of spirits, ' ' says Father Vaughan, a learned 
Catholic theologian of England; he further states, "And 
the possibility of their communicating with us has always 
been taught by the Catholic church. To do so, nothing 
more is needed than the will of God." Does not the 
Catholic church teach the Communion of Saints? Thus, 
the leaders and the followers of this world religion teach, 
and believe, that communication between the two worlds 
is an established fact. 

This church claims that it is founded on the Apostle 
Peter, so let us look up some of his Psychical experi- 
ences. In the Catholic bible (Douay Version, chap. 10 
of the Acts, 9th to 20th verses, we read, "And on the 



20 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

next day, while they were going on their journey, and 
drawing nigh to the city, Peter went up to the higher 
parts of the house to pray, about the sixth hour. And 
being hungry, he was desirous to taste somewhat. And 
as they were preparing, there came upon him an ecstasy 
of mind. And he saw the heaven opened, and a certain 
vessel descending, as it were a great linen sheet let 
down by the four corners from heaven to the earth. 
Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts and creep- 
ing things of the earth and fowls of the air. AND 
THERE CAME A VOICE TO HIM, "Arise, Peter, kill 
and eat." And Peter said: "Far be it from me; for I 
never did eat anything common and unclean. ' ' And the 
voice spoke to him again the second time : ' ' That which 
God hath cleansed, do not thou call common ! ' ' And this 
was done thrice ; and presently the vessel was taken up 
into Heaven! Now, while Peter was doubting within 
himself, what the vision that he had seen should mean, 
behold the men who were sent from Cornelius, inquiring 
for Simon's house, stood at the gate. And as Peter was 
thinking of the vision, THE SPIRIT SAID TO HIM, 
"behold three men seek thee. Arise, therefore, get thee 
down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have 
sent them." 

Now, for the more skeptical ones, who still doubt that 
Peter was a Spiritualist, and talked with Spirits (just 
as honest mediums do today), let us consider further the 
11th chap., same page, same book, same Bible, and read 
what Peter is reported as saying. He is telling the multi- 
tude in Jerusalem that the Gentiles have, through him, 
received the word of God, and is defending his action 
in having received the Gentiles into the Church. He 
says, "AND I HEARD A VOICE SAYING TO ME, 
ARISE PETER, KILL AND EAT. And I said: Not 
so Lord, for nothing common or unclean hath entered 
into my mouth. " The 12th verse : "AND THE SPIRIT 
SAID UNTO ME, that I should go with them, nothing 
doubting. ' ' 



There Is Life After Death 21 

The 12th Chap, goes into detail about Peter being cast 
into prison, and about his spiritual and bodily deliver- 
ance by an angel. The 6th verse reads: "And when 
Herod would have brought him forth, the same night 
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two 
chains, and the keepers before the door, kept the prison. ' ' 
8th verse; "And the angel said unto him, gird thyself 
1 ' and put on thy sandals. ' ' And he did so ! And he said 
unto him, ' ' cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. ' ' 
And the 9th verse proves that Peter was a trance medium 
and obeyed the voice, for it says, "And going out, he 
followed him, AND HE KNEW NOT THAT IT WAS 
TRUE WHICH WAS DONE BY THE ANGEL; but 
thought he saw a vision. And when the angel led Peter 
out into the street, he immediately departed from him. ' ' 
And the 11th verse again shows that he was entranced 
when it states, "And Peter coming to himself, said: 
Now I know in very deed, that the Lord has sent his 
angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod. ' ' 

Can anyone imagine a clergyman of today getting so 
close as Peter did to a demon, — a literal Devil as many 
in the church of today consider spirits ? If our modern 
clergymen were in prison, I wonder if they would wave 
back the angel, with a profound gesture of self -satisfied 
egotism, and say: "Get thee behind me Satan." And 
when the angel would say: "Get your coat, and put on 
your shoes and follow me, ' ' would Mr. Clergyman throw 
back his shoulders and reply, "No ! Mr. Devil, you can't 
fool me ; I know YOU ! If you really want to help me 
now that I am in trouble, if you want to prove that you 
are a REAL angel, and that you can really communi- 
cate with me, then stop talking about my coat and shoes. 
Give me a talk about the jasper walls and the golden 
streets or something else of importance. Please stop 
talking about such unimportant things as my shoes or 
my garments." The Rev. Dr. C. E. Locke, in denying 
Spirit manipulation, says: "The only alleged messages 
from the other world have been unimportant. I think 



22 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

if it were possible for the so-called dead to communi- 
cate with us, they would not send trivial messages." 
Here is one of Methodism's greatest preachers telling 
just what kind of messages should come from the other 
world. A case of the Blind leading the Blind. To me 
it would not make one particle of difference, were I try- 
ing to talk with Mars or any distant planet, if I received 
a message which read: " Rub-a-Dub-Dub, " or ''The 
Flowers that bloom in the Spring," the all important 
question in my mind would be, ''DID I GET AN 
ACTUAL MESSAGE?" Was it absolute fact that I 
had received an intelligent, audible evidence, so con- 
vincing as to prove to me that communication had 
occurred ? 

"Were I to go to a medium who said to me: "Your 
father in the spirit world comes to me with this mes- 
sage for you, his son. You were going to a picnic last 
Saturday, but it rained; I wished on that day to be 
with you, and I want you to get a new pair of tennis 
running shoes, and go in the next race for amateur 
championship." It might mean very little to a clergy- 
man, but it would mean worlds to me, for it would prove 
to me that my father was alive (not asleep awaiting the 
trumpet call of Gabriel on the Resurrection morning), 
and that he had already risen to a higher life, when 
he threw off the material or physical body. That one 
fact, would be worth more than all the orthodox ser- 
mons I ever heard about belief and faith. That's knowl- 
edge! 

It would prove that my father was still a thinking 
entity, with the memory that I had a weakness for tennis 
shoes and especially at picnics or outings; that he had 
a conscious knowledge, even though he had been ' ' dead ' ' 
for many years; he still remembered my ambition to 
run in a certain great race, which would decide who 
was the champion of our town. This would mean more 
to me than a long-winded discourse on the golden streets ; 
or a clerical effort to prove to me that five of the virgins 



There Is Life After Death 23 

were wise and five were foolish, although I admit we 
ought to be much interested in giving knowledge to all 
those foolish virgins who wait until the last moment to 
trim their lamps. 

All through the ages everything the churches could 
not explain, or understand, they called the POWER OF 
THE DEVIL, and yet Science proves many powers, 
which, when studied, understood, and properly applied 
are benefactions to all mankind. 

Less than twenty-five years ago the men who first 
theorized on a flying machine were considered insane. 
Yet the U. S. Government recently spent a Thousand 
Million Dollars for airplanes. It is an accomplished fact, 
and where are the scoffers of those days? 

Marconi has proven that we can talk through the air 
WITHOUT wires, and considers that we may soon talk 
with other planets, such as Mars, forty million miles 
away. Light travels through the ether at a speed that 
would take it seven times around the world in a second. 
Scientists laughed at Marconi and his wireless, although 
they knew this fact, but he was impressed (possibly 
by spirit guidance), with a certainty that it could be 
done, — and did it ! Now where are the scoffers ? 

When Benjamin Franklin was flying kites trying to 
discover something about the electrical forces which ap- 
parently ran uncontrolled through the atmosphere, he 
was condemned by the church, — "because to do this was 
taking the power away from God" — and they empha- 
sized the argument by saying, "that if God had intended 
us to use electricity, He would have made it plain in His 
Word, therefore there was no good reason for search- 
ing ! ' ' The argument did not carry weight, and it is very 
noticeable today that even the good clergymen use the 
electric light. There are now no scoffers! 

It is also notable that the good members of the church 
eat bread, made from flour ground by a machine that our 
ancestors called the power of the devil. Today we recog- 
nize the mill as a blessing. Many well informed people 



24 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

remember reading in the press that certain clergymen 
in this great United States of America refused the use 
of their churches, in which to hold mass meetings, to 
discuss the building of railroads; basing such refusal, 
on the ground that God did not make it plain in His 
"Word that we should use steam engines, and therefore 
the church could not sanction, or discuss such an under- 
taking. There are no scoffers today! 

The Bible dealt with the life and thoughts of ages 
long past, and no mention appears of the electric light, 
the piano, the typewriter, the telephone, the wireless 
telegraph, airships, submarines, the adding machine, pho- 
tography, and many other wonderful things our present 
civilization now uses and enjoys, to the advantage and 
prosperity of all. None of these were made plain in 
God's "Word, nor was it explained just how we were to 
use them, or how to construct them. NO. Certainly 
not! yet God inspired the designing of them and gave 
the knowledge to the brains that evolved their construc- 
tion. The man would be considered a fool today, who 
for such a reason, would not condescend to use them and 
profit thereby. 

Where in the Bible does it give the information about 
he motion picture projection machine, by which media 
countless millions over the world have been interested, 
educated and amused? There is no such passage, be- 
cause God wished mankind to study, think, advance in 
knowledge, and realize the truth by effort. Did God 
make it plain in His Word that the phonograph would 
be constructed in order to perpetuate the voice of man, 
or his words of wisdom, through the coming years; to 
register the great singing voices of the masters of song 
after they have passed out of their mortal' bodies ? Of 
course not! It is depressing to think that men and 
women who consider themselves intelligent still profess 
that we must be guided, in all we do in life, by the laws 
and customs of the ancient Israelites, who knew noth- 
ing of the wonders that God has permitted us to dis- 



There Is Life After Death 25 

cover during the last century, men who did not even 
know that the earth is round 1 Others say that we must 
be bound by the opinions of a few Galilean fishermen 
who knew not (unless Jesus told them, and it is not re- 
corded), of the wonderful things yet to exist in the 
realms of science and invention. 

To advance in knowledge we must open our minds to 
ANY truth that helps, any revelation that leads to dis- 
covery, any progressive thought that will assist in form- 
ing a matured character; that will lead us to greater 
spiritual helpfulness, not only of ourselves, but also of 
our fellows; not merely enveloping ourselves in a big- 
oted, unchangeable creedal belief ; egotistically upholding 
our own peculiar dogmatic assertions whilst refusing to 
discuss, or consider, other views of truth simply because 
they are not part and parcel of our own creed. Let us 
not be slothful in our lives, but realize what God's Will 
is. That we evolve by trying to live up to the knowl- 
edge that He is ever placing before us. Let us under- 
stand that His ways may not be beyond our comprehen- 
sion. 

Our Bible is not the only revelation from God. When 
we see day by day the miracles of natural laws working 
in perfect harmony we behold a revelation of His power. 
The wonderful inventions of modern times -show that 
God is just as much interested in man as ever before. 
It is dark age superstition to assert that mankind is to 
lie down supine, indifferent, idle; and not intended to 
think or act for himself. God gave us freedom ; and in 
the Revelation of John is He not referred to as the 
Alpha and Omega? 

The very thing the orthodox church is opposing so 
strenuously in the teaching of Spiritualism, — the physi- 
cal and the psychical phenomena, — is treated freely and 
in detail by the Apostle John. To deny the possibility of 
any of the phenomena therein is a sign of heresy among 
our preachers. Interpretation of the ancient Bible has 
changed many times. God is apparently increasing 



26 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

human intellect. One phase of phenomena the reverend 
gentlemen believe in, and that is "the handwriting on 
the wall." And yet they fail to see that what God did 
then, is taking place in the churches of the Spiritualists 
today, — that God's handwriting is directing thoughtful, 
good-living Humanity to progress, and obtain knowl- 
edge, by the wonderful propaganda recognized in Spir- 
itualism. The teachings of the orthodoxy of the present 
day are doomed, and the preachers know that "they 
have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.' ' 
They realize, that men and women are thinking now, as 
never before in the history of this world; their Pagan 
doctrines, and Dark Age attempts to enforce religious 
dogmas by cruel persecutions, no longer force men and 
women to deceit and falsehood ; THE LIGHT OF GOD 
IS SHINING ON MANKIND, and the rack and stake 
no longer hold terror for the ones who disregard them. 

In the Bible we read, not occasionally, but on nearly 
every page throughout the book, of Spirit Return, Ma- 
terialization, Spirit Writing, Trances, Trumpet Speak- 
ing, Gifts of Healing, Independent Spirit Voices, Spirit 
Levitation, Spirit Communication in Dreams, etc. 

To those who are interested and would verify this, 
I may state that in my book, ' 'Illustrious Madmen of the 
Ages," I have quoted almost Five Hundred verses from 
the Bible, evidencing the truth of what is now called 
Spiritualism. It is to be regretted that the ministers 
to whom I sent free copies, have declined to refute these 
references, even were they able to do so, or even to dis- 
cuss the subject with me. Can it be that they fear to 
admit the truth? 

It seems to have never entered the heads of many of 
our ministers that there was a possibility of proving, or 
absolutely disproving, the very things they have been 
asking their followers to have faith in. Spiritualism 
has been working slowly for 60 or 70 years; has satis- 
factorily passed many tests, and has proven these things ; 
today this scientific religion has become a menace to 



There Is Life After Death 27 

illogical teachings and leaves the preachers no recourse 
but to admit the truths, as evidenced to themselves, or 
fight them ! 

Spiritualists are daily proving to the world the truth 
of the Bible verses, and the falsity of many of the teach- 
ings of the orthodox church regarding an after life. The 
question asked in this chapter — "Is there life after 
death ?" — is one which the great war seems to have an- 
swered. The records of every battalion gave evidence of 
spirit return in innumerable instances. I will merely 
cite that of an idolized Colonel, who left his arm in bat- 
tle. Having been fitted with 'an artificial limb, he 
sought to return to his old regiment in the field. This 
being refused, he obtained a command in the Dardanelles 
garrison force. At the moment of his death from dys- 
entery, at Lemnos, the Colonel appeared to his old regi- 
ment in the trenches of Flanders. The Company Ser- 
geant Major saw him first, and the Commander himself 
sprang forward to greet the old Commander, who was 
also recognized by nearly all his men. As the Captain 
advanced to speak to the man believed to be alive at 
Lemnos, the apparition disappeared. The Colonel died 
at Lemnos on that day, and we must assume that "Love" 
for his old tried comrades, brought his spirit to bid them 
farewell. 

The body MUST return to dust! The Spirit lives 
and labours — in the Great Beyond! and sometimes by 
the Infinite wisdom and power of God is permitted to 
appear to, or communicate with, those whom the Al- 
mighty WILLS TO INFLUENCE. It is one of the 
mysteries of Life ! ' ' There is NO DEATH ; what seems 
so is transition, ' ' wrote Longfellow. 



EPISTLE OF JAMES— SECOND CHAPTER 

17. "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, 
being alone/ ' 

18. "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I 
have works; Shew me thy faith without thy works, and 
I will shew thee my faith by my works.' ' 

20. "But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith 
without works is Dead." 

24. "Ye see then how that by works a man is jus- 
tified, and not by faith alone/ ' 

26. "For as the body without the Spirit is dead, so 
faith without works is dead also." 



28 




THE DEAD DO COMMUNICATE 

^EAE some of the scholarly and brilliant Los An- 
geles preachers' voice their positive prevarica- 
tions. Eev. Charles Edward Locke, former pas- 
tor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, says: 
' ' There has been no scientific demonstration of a future 
life. We constantly believe there is a life beyond, but 
there has never been anything sufficiently clear, from 
the other world, to warrant us in saying it is an estab- 
lished scientific fact. The only alleged messages from 
the other world have been unimportant. I think if it 
were possible for the so-called dead to communicate 
with us, they would not send us these trivial messages. 
What we call death Jesus defines as sleep. I consider 
there is no sufficient proof regarding any communica- 
tion whatsoever between this and any other world." 

Can anyone imagine a more illogical statement ? What 
can we think of a clergyman of standing, who pro- 
fesses a firm belief in every word contained in the Holy 
Bible, and yet professes to absolutely reject the hun- 
dreds of records of Spirit Communications with the 
living contained therein? This statement was not made 
by him years ago, but in the year 1920. One would 
think this sweeping denunciation should denote a knowl- 
edge of every phase of phenomena ever known to Man, 
yet one need only hear him talk to discover that he has 
not studied (or investigated) any phase of Spiritual- 
ism; not even its philosophy, to say nothing of its phe- 
nomena. 

What does the Rev. Locke know of the results of years 
of investigation on the part of many famous Scientists 

[29] 



30 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

who now KNOW, and admit in their writings, that spirit 
communication is a fact ? "What does this reverend gent- 
leman know, as compared with the millions throughout 
the world today who have actual knowledge that spirit 
communication is true? He assumes that by a few ser- 
mons, he can refute Spiritualism; place it on the shelf 
of his orthodox hell; possibly annihilate it altogether. 
He cannot! 

If he would, with an open, unprejudiced mind, investi- 
gate Spiritualism; read and study, thoughtfully, the 
works of those great scientific writers who HAVE in- 
vestigated its phenomena, he would not be leading his 
flock around in a circle to — Nowhere ! If he desired not 
to do so, it would be more honest when making such 
egotistical statements, to just add, "SO FAR AS I 
KNOW, THERE HAS BEEN NO SCIENTIFIC DEM- 
ONSTRATION OF A FUTURE LIFE." Then he 
would be playing safe. But the bigotry, egotism, and 
intolerance of olden times still exist today, and they are 
three of a kind that are hard to beat; they still form 
a bad combination. 

Some years ago I had my name on the roll of Dr. 
Locke's church, but after longing for years to hear some 
sermon, sometime, dealing with "Life After Death," 
or "Are We Conscious After Death?" or "Can We 
Prove That We Live After the Change Called Death?" 
or "The Continuity of Existence," or a dozen kindred 
subjects that I sent asking him to preach upon, I was 
convinced that I had waited in vain. I had been a keen 
student of theological subjects for many years and I 
felt surprised to learn that a theologian like Dr. Locke 
was not disposed to get on speaking terms with knowl- 
edge of the kind which I considered of vital importance 
to humanity. 

Why then should I ask his advice, or seek a needle in 
a hay stack ; especially after I heard a statement he made 
at a funeral (similar to other remarks herein quoted), 



The Dead Do Communicate 31 

namely: "There has been no proof that we live after 
death." Shortly after this episode, I wrote him again 
asking whether I was correct in my understanding of 
that statement, and if so requesting him to erase my 
name from the roll of his church, as I did not care to 
endorse any such doctrines. Dr. Locke himself never 
answered the letter, nor did his secretary; yet, subse- 
quently, when soliciting money for his church, two of the 
leading lights called at my home for a subscription, when 
it was again explained just why a donation was not 
made. 

Later, when I published the book, "Illustrious Mad- 
men of the Ages, ' ' I sent Dr. Locke an autographed copy, 
which never received even the customary courtesy of 
acknowledgment, despite the fact that it contained al- 
most five hundred Scripture quotations. Had Dr. Locke 
been an open-minded seeker for the truth (no matter 
from what source) he would have surely investigated 
the statements therein. 

I now have in mind one of the "Golden Sayings" of 
Epictetus, which may be of help to any self-satisfied 
clerical who is not open to consideration of other than 
his own preconceived opinions. The ancient teacher 
says: "If a man would pursue Philosophy, his first 
task is to throw away conceit. For it is impossible for 
a man to begin to learn, when he has a conceit that he 
already knows." If Dr. Locke and others would let 
this sink into their consciousness, they might profit there- 
by personally, and their congregations would not again 
be compelled to hear such a statement as was made re- 
cently in a sermon opposing Spiritualism, when he said : 
"Modern Spiritualism is the most colossal fake of our 
time." The Doctor should remember that there never 
was a fake in anything, unless there is somewhere the 
genuine article. 

Because there are fake or spurious, debased, valueless 
coins in the hands of our people proves that there are 
also valuable, genuine coins. There are false hair and 



32 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

false teeth, false faces, false friends, glass eyes, and 
wooden legs, bnt do not these prove that somewhere 
there are the genuine articles? 

While I am writing this book there comes through 
the mail a letter from the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church of Los Angeles, and it is signed, ' ' Affectionately, 
Charles Edward Locke, Pastor." No, my dear friends, 
it is not an answer to my many letters to him on the 
subject of the "Soul" and its destiny; or about my 
voluntary withdrawal from his church; nor about my 
book with five hundred scripture quotations in it. It 
is a long, carefully worded letter telling me, in detail, 
about the new church they desire to build, and sug- 
gesting that if I have heard about the widow 's mite it 
should quicken my religious fervour; and finally, that 
I should give largely; adding, also, that this new enter- 
prise was not a "Begging Campaign," for the church is 
not a "Beggar" and "Our God is not a Pauper." This 
request for fiancial aid is made though I am not a mem- 
ber, and have not been for many years. The letter goes 
on, "We should PEAY about it, but pray with our 
pocketbooks opened before us. ' ' 

This last phrase may be a good hint for many spir- 
itualists who think that by parting with a thin dime 
at the door of a spiritualist meeting, they are securing 
a seat in Heaven. I will not take such a risk, for it will 
be remembered that earlier in this book I have shown 
that St. Peter was a spiritualist (if we believe the Bible) 
and talked with spirits. We are told that Peter holds 
the keys to Heaven, so it may be that he will deal leni- 
netly with such selfish ones, even though they have 
squeezed in on a dime and then cavilled when the me- 
dium gave them no message. 

Before leaving Dr. Locke I have received another let- 
ter marked "Confidential," and it is signed, "Affec- 
tionately, your pastor, Charles Edward Locke." The 
date is just six days after the first letter, and this one 
is to inform me "that his church proposes to raise a 



The Dead Do Communicate 33 

quarter of a million dollars; that soliciting teams had 
been organized to call on the people; to kindly remain 
at home on the next two Sundays, and also during the 
evenings that week, to receive these visitors. They 
would have cards for me to sign stating the amount that 
I would give; and that they knew that Christ was de- 
pending on me to do my best, and that I surely would not 
disappoint Him." I shall try not to disappoint Christ, 
even though the so-called Christian Church of today op- 
erates with the cry of Dollars and Dimes. 

The point I wish to make in bringing this before 
my readers is, that I could get no help, no advice, no 
sermons about what I consider to be the great subject 
of the Soul, or its destiny; no consoling letters of coun- 
sel from a professedly affectionate pastor ; and yet years 
after, this church actually recognizes my existence by 
sending me kindly letters when they want money. I 
can say truthfully this church did not do much for my 
spiritual welfare. 

Now listen to Rev. J. A. Eby, Wilshire Presbyterian 
Church, Los Anegles, Calif., who seems to be more can- 
did, and says: ''There has been enough evidence pro- 
duced, to convince many of the existence of a life beyond, 
and a world beyond. I am not in a position to express an 
opinion as to the facts, especially with reference to com- 
munication from those of the so-called spirit world. I 
am slow to accept the communication theory as an estab- 
lished fact." This gentleman is not so self -complaisant 
as Dr. Locke; but just what value is any clergyman's 
belief, when it is founded upon ignorance instead of 
facts ? He honestly admits that he knows nothing about 
the facts concerning an After Life, or the possibility 
of communicating with the departed. I admire his can- 
dor, but, for me, his advice or his opinion, is absolutely 
valueless on this subject. 

Yet so many implicitly follow clerical advice, or al- 
low themselves to be influenced by these unreliable me- 
diums of theoretical explanations of religious knowl- 



34 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

edge; the best of whom speak from tradition only, re- 
garding a truth of which they admit knowing nothing. 
The keen man of intellect, should he desire knowledge 
of scientific, commercial or industrial avocations in his 
daily life, seeks his information from an expert, — the 
best he can procure. Surely, the subject of Eternal Life 
is far more important than the petty details of earth 
life, and yet the average human being rests content to 
go to a selected church, listen to a minister preaching, 
return home satisfied (sometimes) with what he has 
heard ; and, ' ' hoping that he is on the road to Heaven. ' ' 

He should try also to find an expert in the teachings 
of the laws of God who gave him the breath of life. Is 
the average church minister an expert ? No. Then why 
do the vast majority of church members seek knowl- 
edge of the after life, — details of the spirit world, — 
and many other vital truths from gentlemen who freely 
and candidly admit they know nothing about it, and 
do not care to investigate? 

The Bible says, "Seek, and ye shall find." So it is 
put up to each one of us to do our own seeking. My 
advice is, do not seek knowledge from those reverend 
gentlemen I am quoting, or you are doomed to failure, 
for apparently they know not to search. 

Kev. Eby then continues to theorize on human knowl- 
edge by saying, "If my friends who have gone on want 
to communicate with me they will do it direct, if it is 
possible at all. I have never had a personal experience 
of this kind and unless I do, I don't believe it will ever 
be possible for me to absolutely believe it possible." 
Still Rev. Eby will go to the telephone and will not 
question in any way the rules, or laws of nature, gov- 
erning the method of getting in touch with the indi- 
vidual with whom he desires to communicate. 

To my mind he has just as little liberty to select his 
own method of procedure in the one, as in the other 
scientific attempt to communicate, — as a person unac- 
quainted with the laws governing the operations of the 



The Dead Do Communicate 35 

telephone, insisting that he shall specify his own means 
of obtaining the expected communication. The ordi- 
nary man is so used to connecting by means of a tele- 
phone that the question never arises in his mind as to 
whether the method is correct. The clergyman is also 
satisfied to be silent; he will never question the great 
laws of Science, or profess to know anything about 
nature's laws, or investigate natural phenomena, for 
fear they might upset his theories, or peculiar fancies, 
regarding theology or Churchianity. 

It is, however, only necessary to assert to him or his 
bigoted followers, the possibility and desirability of 
getting a message across, from the spirit world, and 
demanding why they are not doing it, if others can ; and 
you hit them where they live. You are then talking 
about something that is materially (not spiritually) 
vital to a preacher ; it is another instance of Dollars and 
Dimes. 

Because of his ignorance of the subject, his wilful 
ignorance, he will begin at once to figuratively trample 
upon all those unknown laws of the Great Architect of 
the Universe; the great laws of God; of most of which 
he is absolutely ignorant. He will declaim, and tell just 
how these unknown laws MUST work in order to con- 
vince him that communication is possible. Even a cler- 
gyman cannot change the natural forces, or the immut- 
able Psychic laws of the Universe, however much he may 
wish to believe, or disbelieve, a certain thing. 

The Rev. Eby then goes on to say : "I am absolutely 
opposed to all seances and so-called mediums. ,, What 
inconsistency ! Has he not faith in his own profession ? 
The same methods of investigation are open to him that 
were used by Professor Sir William Crookes in proving 
spirit return. Surely it is not too much to ask that, as 
a preliminary at least, an honest effort be made by him 
to satisfy himself by the only method at present known, 
by which it can be proven. He will then have some 



36 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

justification in denying it. Indifference should have no 
weight with a thinking man. None whatever. 

It would be just as consistent to say to a telephone 
operator, "I am desirous of getting a message from the 
Mayor, but I am opposed to you acting as a medium, 
so I am going to do this without your intervention. I 
am opposed to your switchboards, your wires, your com- 
municators, and to the necessity of keeping the re- 
ceiver on my telephone. I am going to take off the re- 
ceiver at this end of the line and leave it down; for I 
will not believe that communication is possible between 
the Mayor and myself unless I get a message under my 
own conditions. ' ' We all know just what would happen ! 
He would get no message! The condition is the same, 
Mr. Eby, and I want to say that you have YOUR re- 
ceiver "down." You need not look for any message 
until you open your mind and SEEK the truth with all 
your heart. 

The preacher will deny the truth of spirit return, or 
communication, and yet he will preach a sermon admit- 
ting the truth of the book of the Revelation which was 
given to John while in a trance ; yet this is a continuous 
story dealing with Voices and Visions. He will, in the 
course of his sermon, read the 8th and 9th verses of the 
22nd chapter of Revelation, and then deny possible com- 
munication between the two worlds. Can he reconcile 
the facts therein recorded with the teachings of his 
church, or his own definite statements? Study the fol- 
lowing Biblical verses which read : "And I, John, SAW 
these things, and HEARD them. And when I had 
HEARD AND SEEN, I fell down to worship before 
the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 
Then said HE unto me, see thou do it not; for I AM 
THY FELLOW SERVANT, and of my brethren, the 
PROPHETS, and of them which KEEP the sayings of 
this book: WORSHIP GOD." 

Here we have a case of indisputable spirit return, as 
recorded in the Bible, which preachers say is infallible. 



The Dead Do Communicate 37 

This was not the Almighty God speaking. Simply a 
MESSENGER sent from the realms of spirit to min- 
ister to people on earth. He told John that he was his 
fellow servant, and that he had been a medium (prophet) 
when on earth; therefore, he was not to fall down to 
worship HIM, but to worship God. That's plain enough 
for Eby, or Locke, or Brougher, or Selecman, or Torry, 
or even Billy Sunday. Still, these dogmatic clergymen 
go on with their misleading cry: "There has been no 
proof of any communication." 

Few theologians condescend to study the following 
gem of truth by Herbert Spencer: "There is a prin- 
ciple which is a bar against all information, which is 
proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to 
keep a man in EVERLASTING ignorance ; this princi- 
ple is contempt PRIOR to examination." Would that 
all my readers, and especially these reverend gentlemen, 
would open their minds to the Truth. Why will you 
be content to remain in everlasting ignorance about ex- 
isting natural laws; about subjects of such vast impor- 
tance to mankind? 

Is it that the spirit of evil (understanding the truth) 
prompts a professed contempt, prior to examination, and 
incites a refusal to make an unprejudiced examination? 

I have heard preachers laud the earlier writings of 
Thomas J. Hudson to the skies, and thereafter try to 
prove their views against spiritualism by quoting from 
his books, one of which goes into his then undeveloped 
views regarding the subconscious mind ; but, when quot- 
ting they seem to forget (or purposely evade), or do 
not know of later publications, such as his "Laws of 
Psychic Phenomena," in which, page 206, he states: 
' 'The man who denies the phenomena of Spiritualism is 
not entitled to be called a skeptic ; he is simply ignorant, 
and it would be a hopeless task to attempt to enlighten 
him." 

I have personally found this to be a truth. It is a 
hopeless task to try to enlighten the average orthodox 



38 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

minister, or to even get a reply from those in Los An- 
geles, on the subject of Spirit Communication. 

Press reporters however, can generally get a damn- 
atory statement, for these reverend gentlemen realize 
the advertising value of the press reference, and fail 
not to utilize its influence to mould the public mind. 
In many cases they thereby perpetuate indifference and 
ignorance, whilst stimulating prejudice, and establish- 
ing doubt in the minds of millions of people. If the 
reader cannot credit this last statement he should get 
the proof upon the printed pages of ' ' The Brass Check, ' ' 
the new book by Upton Sinclair, which is causing a sen- 
sation. 

Any attempt to give the clergy something to think 
about, other than what they are willing to accept on face 
value (regardless of its value as Truth, or its import- 
ance to mankind), is doomed to failure as a rule, though 
as professed teachers they should be ready, indeed anx- 
ious to teach only that which is absolute truth. 

The Modern English Dictionary gives the definition of 
Teacher, as ' ' One who Teaches ; ' ' if this be so, an ortho- 
dox preacher cannot be considered as a Teacher when 
he definitely admits that he does not know." Prop- 
erly classified, they are "Positive Preachers" and not 
teachers, for one MUST KNOW to be competent as a 
teacher. 

The reader must bear in mind that I am writing 
solely about the subject of Spiritualism and its phe- 
nomena, when I refer to this last thought; for I do not 
wish to close my eyes to the great moral good, and the 
great power available for the upbuilding of a better 
world which is possessed by the churches of our land. 
Because they have taught that we should lead clean 
lives, pay our bills, be charitable and kind to our 
neighbors, and build up good reputations, is no evi- 
dence of truth in the statement of the preachers that 
"There has been no scientific proof of a future life, or 
if there has, we don't believe it." 



The Dead Do Communicate 39 

The one lesson I desire primarily to teach; in fact, 
the object I have in writing this book, is to urge the 
orthodox preachers to keep within the teachings of their 
Bible, which study will prove that the Book is almost 
entirely given up to Spirit Communications, Dreams, 
Visions, Prophesy, etc. They should come out in the 
open and prove themselves ready and eager to learn all 
they can about the teachings of Spiritualism. Let them 
show a desire to investigate conscientiously, intelligently 
and unceasingly, in an effort to discover the basic truth 
about this true Christ religion. By so doing, they will 
consistently fulfill their mission and earn their salaries. 
They should find the truth such, then pass it on to their 
followers who for the most part unthinkingly swallow 
hook, bait, and line, and thus are bound closer to the 
land of Ignorance. 

The war has taught us the power of propaganda. The 
more preachers are compelled by public opinion to study 
and discuss the cosmic laws and the subject, "Life after 
Death," the greater will be their Spiritual power. The 
more they "knock" Spiritualism without investigation, 
the more will all the thinking people in their congre- 
gations desire to investigate it. 

Think for a moment what the possible result would 
be should all the Baptists in the world deny the truth 
of Wireless communication. Their views would not in- 
fluence Marconi or the world of commerce. 

What difference would it make to Wireless Telegraphy ; 
would it affect the opinions of Prof. Edgar Lucien Lar- 
kin, that wonderful Scientist and Director of Mt. Lowe 
Observatory; should all the Methodists in America 
deny the fact that there are, within the range of the 
Telespectroscope and Telecamera (they cannot gauge 
the fact), 100,000,000 giant suns traveling the depths 
of space, actually photographed, would it make the least 
difference to the scientific mind? According to Prof. 
Larkin, there are ninety kinds of atoms now known to 



40 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

chemists. What right would anyone have, not having 
studied these subjects, to deny the truth? 

To tell a preacher that it is possible to communicate 
with a ship at sea, and give a consecutive message, is 
not asking him to change his previous creedal beliefs, 
so he, without any personal study or investigation, 
accepts it as fact, and marvels at it. He is not running 
the gauntlet of public opinion when he accepts the truth 
of the statement that we can send a good likeness of a 
man across the continent by telegraph. That does not 
affect his personal views on religion; it does not affect 
his meal-ticket! 

The fact that he was not taught the truth of life after 
death in his particular theological seminary, does not 
justify his persistent opposition to it. "We need not 
object to his being ignorant if he personally desires to 
be, but his wilful determination to remain so, is one of 
the mysteries of the world. 

I wish to make the point that it does not really mat- 
ter what the church (as such) says about Spiritualism, 
for the facts are existent and cannot be disputed. They 
remain the same, though every preacher in the land 
rejects them. 

It matters not what the Methodists say, think, or 
believe about the Wireless, Radio, Photography or 
Astronomy; or what the Baptists, or any other denom- 
ination, say, think, or believe about Chemistry, Atoms, 
Ions, or Electrons. The results of scientific investiga- 
tion remain the same. It would not affect natural laws 
one bit, if all the Presbyterians in the land should deny 
that the blood circulated through the body ; and yet this 
was unknown only a few hundred years ago. It would 
not lessen the speed of the motor in the giant airplane, 
if all the Christian Scientists in the land should deny 
the reality of its flying. Nor alter the truth if every 
Catholic in the world refused to believe that millions 
of suns invisible to the solar telescope, project their 
microscopic images on photographic plates. 



The Dead Do Communicate 41 

"We are told that the sensitive plate secures and stores 
light from the shades of falling night until the approach 
of dawn; also, that night exposures are made by the 
aid of a clock that turns the camera westward with 
precisely the same rate that the earth turns eastward; 
and, that the visible heavens have been photographed on 
over 25,000 distinct plates. \Ye are entitled to ask 
just what the value would be, of individual opinion, 
even of the preachers, upon these ascertained facts of 
astronomy. 

"None whatever," every man of intellect will say 
without hesitation. This being so, it should follow that, 
to any candid investigator or seeker after truth, it does 
not affect the certainties of Spiritualism, ONE PAR- 
TICLE, though every Methodist, Presbyterian, Christ- 
ian Scientist, Catholic, Baptist, and every religion and 
creed on the face of this old earth denies or rejects its 
teachings. Scientific evidence is not affected by such 
personal opinion. I emphatically state that the facts, 
and proven truths, of the philosophy and phenomena 
of Spiritualism stand today on an unquestionably firm 
basis. Unfortunately, too many people do not under- 
stand that mere belief cannot change a single atom of 
truth. This book upholds the undeniable truth of Spir- 
itualism. 

When one hears some famous preacher who pretends 
to know all about it, without previous study, either of 
the published records of Psychical Research Societies, 
or of the investigation of independent thinkers and 
scientists, profess to "expose Spiritualism," it becomes 
ridiculous, — if it were not so serious in its bearing on 
humanity at large. He might just as well announce an 
expose of Astronomy, or Natural Philosophy, Chem- 
istry or Surgery. He might as well try to expose Wire- 
less Telegraphy, the laws of which he knows nothing 
whatever. 

Truth in the past has emerged from its obscurity in 
all sciences and always will! If these clever gentlemen 



42 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

would investigate sufficiently to justify themselves in 
appearing as qualified exponents, and entitled to expose 
Fake Spiritualism, or prove how many charlatans impose 
upon the uninformed public, or seekers of knowledge on 
the subject, they would be doing a service to mankind; 
one that would be greatly appreciated by all real spir- 
itualists. To do so however, would be an acknowledg- 
ment that Spiritualism is genuine, and that is the very 
concession they must avoid. Dr. Locke lays this down 
beyond any doubt, for he said in a sermon, " There is 
no such thing as a genuine medium, they are all fakes; 
and there never was a genuine message from the spirit 
world to prove that we live after death." 

Back to your study of the Bible, Dr. Locke, and read 
the facts recorded about Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph, 
Noah, Lot, Elias, Matthew, Mark, Paul, John, Peter and 
Cornelius, who all talked with Spirits, beheld visions, 
learned facts in dreams, and communicated with the 
unseen world beyond, if the Bible is to be depended 
upon. 

The pertinent preacher should know where the Bible 
came from, although he does not preach about its origin, 
or give the detailed facts about its source to his audi- 
ences. Doubtless his technical theological knowledge 
of the book will influence his expression of opinion re- 
garding the truth of such stories as refer to Spirit com- 
munications. 

He knows, or should know, that there are in existence 
no known definite and reliable historical records of the 
proceedings of the Council of Nicea, which was con- 
vened in the year 327 A. D., by the Roman Emperor 
Constantine, for the purpose of compiling one Bible, — 
instead of accepting one of over three hundred varia- 
tions then in the Empire — (each claiming to be the true 
Word of God), as the guide of Christian faith. The 
evidence therefore is, that our present Bible has been 
gathered from tradition by diligent historians and from 
the fragmentary manuscripts of early writers. 



The Dead Do Communicate 43 

The earlier Greek religion (Mythraism), finally 
adopted that of the followers of Christ, by edict of Con- 
stantine, who made Christianity the State religion; the 
Mythraists (not changing their ritual), then changed 
their designation, which finally became known as the 
Catholic Religion. Protestantism is but an offshoot of 
the Catholic religion, changed somewhat by numerous 
sects, having in themselves many branches. 

Historians tell us that all of the 308 manuscripts voted 
upon by the Council of Nicea were copies only ; even at 
that early date there were no originals in existence. 
After many months of wrangling, 233 of the 308 books 
were absolutely rejected and burned; from the remain- 
ing 75 certain extracts were selected, collated, and having 
been finally decided upon, written together in one book, 
now called the Holy Bible. Let the Roman Catholic 
take comfort (or the Protestant regret), that there was 
but one Holy Bible, i. e., the. Catholic, from 327 A. D., 
until Martin Luther's time. 

In 1534 came more alterations of the Holy volume, 
when nine entire books were taken out. The remaining 
66 books are now recognized as being the Protestant 
Bible. Even then the decision was not unanimous, for 
Luther wanted only 65, — seeking to leave out the Epistle 
of James, — but he was outvoted, and it still remains as 
an infallible part of the Word. The Bible has been 
translated into about 226 various languages, each of 
them differing from the other, in the rendering of the 
various passages, as translated, into the vernacular. Of 
these versions many are today moribund, but as many as 
a hundred still exist, no two alike in details. 

In the little booklet, "Is the Bible the Infallible "Word 
of God, ' ' by the Hon. Robert Addison Dague, one of the 
ablest thinkers in this country, we read : ' ' Prior to 1604- 
1611 the difference of translations of so-called "Words 
of God" became so annoying that the pious King James 
of England called together a commission of leading theo- 
logical scholars, and the translation that bears his name 



44 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

became the authorized Bible of Protestantism." It was 
printed as a government monopoly and until recently 
remained unchanged, though erudite Protestant clergy- 
men recognized that the King James' Bible was very 
imperfect; indeed one distinguished Bible scholar 
asserted that it contained several hundred errors in the 
forms of mistranslation, interpolations and alterations. 

Therefore another revision was made of the New 
Testament in 1881, of the Old in 1885, by a committee 
of British and American Protestant Scholars and Divines. 
In that new version hundreds of errors were corrected ; 
entire verses and sections of previous chapters omitted, 
and the style of language changed. This latest, most 
scholarly and most accurate revision did not however 
please many of the orthodox Protestant clergy, notwith- 
standing that it was the conjoint work of their own most 
competent scholars. One of the reasons given was, that 
the revisers apparently found that the texts relied upon 
to sustain the doctrine of the Trinity, or Deification of 
Jesus, were not in the original manuscripts, but were 
interpolated into the Biblical writings about the third 
century. 

Let me quote an instance: The King James version, 
1st John, 5-7, says; — "For there are three that bear 
record in heaven, the Father, the "Word, and the Holy 
Ghost ; and these three are one. ' ' This verse is not found 
in the new version. Why? It was not put in the new 
version of 1881 because presumably the revisers (not- 
withstanding they were themselves Trinitarians), dis- 
covered the verse to be an interpolation, as were also 
several other paragraphs of the same import. The schol- 
arly revisers were honest enough to acknowledge the 
forgery, notwithstanding that the discovery knocked the 
Scriptural props from under the doctrine of Trinitarian- 
ism and the Atonement. 

That revision, known as the Oxford revision was fin- 
ished nearly thirty years ago, since which time the 
majority of the orthodox Protestant clergy have done all 



The Dead Do Communicate 45 

in their power to ignore and discredit the new edition, 
and thereby suppress the truth. They have gone right 
on preaching Trinitarianism, the Deity of Jesus, and the 
Atonement, in accordance with the texts in the older 
King James' version, which their own scholars and 
translators deliberately eliminated. 

The new English "Oxford" Bible of 1881-1885, is 
now recognized as the most reliable of all the many 
translations, — yet the protestant clergy will not quote 
from it, for the reason named. It is however the stan- 
dard now used by the spiritualists and other liberal, 
broad-minded people and sects. 

Let me say here, that the Roman Catholic clergy, 
knowing more of the inner proceedings as to how the 
book called the Bible was compiled, do not consider it 
as infallible. 

I am however, insisting that it is the duty of all 
leaders and teachers to tell the whole truth about the 
Bible, as do the modern liberal sects, or else admit the 
recorded stories of spirit communications, realizing that 
all the verified stories of spirit intercourse told today are 
just as possible as any of those recorded in the Bible. 
The Psychic phenomena of today and those of Divine 
revelation in Biblical times, must stand or fall together, 
for Divine Power never changes. 

If it were true then it is possible now. If it hap- 
pened then, it can happen now. Spiritualists say it 
did happen then, and they prove it does happen now. 
Jesus proved it by His own good works, and told His 
followers that " Greater things than these shall ye do ; ' ' 
yet today these professed followers of Jesus say pos- 
itively such so-called miracles cannot be done; or, if 
done, it is the work of a devil. How can they reason- 
ably reconcile such opposition? 

Paul said, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is 
good." The spiritualists claim they have proved that 
there is no actual death. The modern preacher says, 



46 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

as he thinks pertinently, that HE can't prove it; and 
then gets disputatious when the spiritualists do prove it. 

Now hear the views of the Rev. J. A. Francis, First 
Baptist church, Los Angeles: "The war has created 
a revival of all forms of Spiritualism, which is sweeping 
the world in a wave unlike anything ever before recorded 
in history. . . . After the Civil War we had the 
same thing, on a smaller scale. The movement grew to 
such proportions that in Boston a huge temple was 
erected by those who believed in this theory, but it 
gradually died out, and some years ago the temple was 
sold for a motion picture theatre. I believe something 
like that will follow the present wave." 

"A peculiar thing about the theories is the alleged 
pictures of life in the other world. If I believed that 
communication were possible, I would believe the pic- 
tures. The only information that I accept is that con- 
tained in the Bible, and that is mostly symbolical and 
allegorical. When it comes to bridging the gulf, I can 
only say, 'You've got to show me.' And if you ask 
me about life in the other world, or anything else about 
Professor Lodge's theories, I will frankly say I don't 
know anything about it." 

It is evident this clergyman does not accept what is 
contained in the Bible. If he did, the recorded return 
of Samuel's spirit to converse with Saul should cer- 
tainly convince this preacher that a spirit can talk with 
man. If, on the other hand, he claims that he accepted 
the Bible as literally, and infallibly true, then he can- 
not evade such distinct evidence of spirit intercourse 
as the one wherein Saul was informed that he would be 
in the spirit world with his sons on the morrow; for 
Saul was actually killed as foretold in Biblical history. 

As this gentleman frankly admits that he knows noth- 
ing whatever about the life after death, how can he pro- 
fess to advise the followers who pay his salary for teach- 



The Dead Do Communicate 47 

ing about these Biblical matters, when he has no such 
knowledge ? 

How can he justify his maintaining such an important 
pastoral position when his knowledge about the spiritual 
truths, recorded a thousand times in the Word of God, 
is utterly inadequate to satisfy the demand of thinking 
men and women? 

The reverend gentleman is doing a service to true re- 
ligion in admitting the fact that he does not know any- 
thing whatever about the ' ' after life ; ' ' for, by so doing, 
he stimulates any person of an inquiring turn of mind, or 
with a thirst for knowledge about these subjects, to seize 
the opportunity to visit some other church in order to 
learn something of value concerning futurity. He cer- 
tainly could not call any conscientious student to order 
for carrying out an honest desire to seek for "that some- 
thing' ' of which his pastor could not tell him. If the 
preachers neglect to satisfy the inborn longing of every 
thinking person; the craving to know the truth about 
the most important event that ever happened to human- 
ity on this planet, it will be only a few years until they 
will have no audience, and no church in which to preach. 

Jewish Rabbi, Bev. Dr. S. Hecht, formerly of Sinai 
Temple, Los Angeles, says: "I believe in Immortality, 
but not in a physical sense. But when you ask me about 
certain scientists ' theories, I say I don't know anything 
about such matters, and I don't believe anyone else 
does." 

Personally I cannot understand why men who know 
nothing about Spiritualism are requested to give opin- 
ions about it, or invited to influence public opinion, and 
thereby theorize about Spiritualism in any way. They 
cannot possibly give a satisfactory or reliable, truthful 
statement about something of which they know nothing. 

"When will the public learn not to ask a pagan if he re- 
members the Golden Text, or try to engage a child in 
conversation about the proposed communication with the 



48 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

planet Mars? Where there is no visible evidence of 
studied knowledge, there can be no appreciation of any 
dogmatic assertion; but condemnation must result when 
preachers willfully stay in a blind condition and con- 
tinue to teach, or pretend to teach, about a spiritualism 
of which they know nothing. 

Let my readers now consider the Catholic Church, 
which makes a declaration of belief in the Communion 
of Saints. This cannot mean anything except that dead 
saints, or holy people who once lived here on earth, talk 
with the living. Notwithstanding this tenet, a promi- 
nent priest, Rev. John Cawley (Chancellor-Secretary of 
the Catholic Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles), takes 
the position that "Spirits happy with God would not 
condescend to communicate with so materialistic a world 
as the one in which we live. We BELIEVE that the 
soul is immortal, and that there is a life of indescrib- 
able happiness for those who live according to the teach- 
ings of the Church. It is impossible to predict what 
Science may bring forth, but for the present we are 
unwilling to accept such theories as facts." 

Spiritualists reply by asking what more proof can 
Science bring forth than has already been given? To 
the mind of the writer, this statement implies a belief 
that only people who lived and died in the Catholic faith 
are capable of coming back ; but it amplifies it by stating, 
inferentially, that those "happy with God" would not 
care about those they have left on earth; and therefore, 
"would not condescend to come back." Yet Catholics 
admit they BELIEVE in communion of Saints ; and that 
the Saints come back, and help people here on earth who 
make the twelve stations of the Cross. 

It is a good thing for the world today that no par- 
ticular church, or body of men, can, as they did in the 
old days of the Inquisition, reserve for themselves the 
right to question mankind as to differences of opinion, 
or terrorize the followers of any particular creed or 



The Dead Do Communicate 49 

dogma, or arrogate to themselves only, the knowledge, 
and mental capacity, necessary to define the spiritual 
laws of the universe. The day for such religious con- 
trol has long passed. 

It is the Almighty God alone who sets the Laws of 
spiritual conditions. Who lives the God-like life regard- 
less of caste, creed, or color, is the one who will be able 
to best demonstrate the great Laws of God, to His own 
eternal benefit and for the edification of all mankind. 

If it be true that a priest can by some great, but gen- 
erally unknown law of Divine Power, communicate, by 
virtue of his office, with the other worlds — in order to 
ask forgiveness of sins ; also, if the saints can come back 
to this world to help those who believe that this is so, 
then it is logical to believe that, by the same unknown 
law, any other truly religious person could reach the 
tribunal of God and do the same thing, if he brought 
that law into operation. 

To believe that any Divine law is controlled by a par- 
ticular church, is as preposterous as the assertion that 
only Presbyterians can be inventors ; or, that only Meth- 
odists should be granted the privilege of operating an 
airship ; or that Baptists only may gaze through a tele- 
scope and delve into the wonders of our universe. There 
is one noble thought that all men admit about the power 
of God, viz.: "He is no respector of persons.' ' 

In the tenth chapter of Acts, verse 34, we read, 
(and by the way he is the reputed Rock upon which the 
Catholic — not merely the Roman Catholic — Church is 
founded). "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 
Of a truth I perceive that God is no respector of per- 
sons.' ' The thirty-fifth verse says : "But in every nation 
he that feareth him (God) and worketh righteousness, 
is accepted with him." This is pretty plain language! 
And emanating from Peter, the founder of the Catholic 
Church, is entitled to respect. If Peter is right, and the 
Bible true, then any person, whether the follower of any 
religion, or even of no accepted (definite, or official) 



50 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

religion, in any Nation on the globe is acceptable to 
God, — providing, of course, they are the sincere workers 
of righteousness. 

There is little doubt that the cause of much organized 
propaganda against Spiritualism is due to the recent 
great loss of membership in the many sectarian churches 
of the land. Here are the figures, as given officially by 
Dr. H. K. Carroll, compiler of the First Official Census 
of Religions in the United States. These interesting 
statistics show that, during 1919, eleven of the hitherto 
most prosperous denominations showed decreases. The 
census states that the Methodist Episcopal Church shows 
a decrease of 69,940 members. The Presbyterian a de- 
crease of 41,119 members; the Baptists a decrease of 
44,153 members, and the Disciples of Christ a decrease 
of 17,645 members. The converse is shown in the fact 
that the Spiritualist churches are gaining in leaps and 
bounds. "We must admit that America is not a Christian 
nation. The thoughts, acts and ideals of modern Ameri- 
can life cannot in any way be compared with the teach- 
ings of the gentle Nazarene. The nation is ceasing to 
be absolutely formally Christian. 

The Federal Council of Churches recently reported 
there were 30,000 pastorless churches in the United 
States. Oberlin College has long been known as a center 
for Evangelical religion, but last year not a single man 
of the graduating class entered the ministry. This means 
simply that most thinking men and women of today 
have finally and definitely rejected the old-time Christian 
dogmatism. 



THE DAWN OF A LIFE 

The Dawn of a Life, 

Oh, how beautiful. 

Back from the worlds of Light. 

Again to breathe and live, to see 

The strength and scope, the might 

Of a Master. 

The Morning of Life, 
Oh, how wonderful. 
Brightening suns call, " Arise." 
A life of service waits, shall I 
Embrace this chance, this prize 
Of a Master? 

The Noon-day of Life, 
Oh, how bountiful. 
Feasting, a repast rare, 
Am I partaking now of joys 
And of Knowledge, laid bare 
By a Master? 

The Evening of Life, 

Oh, how sorrowful. 

If TEUTH found not a way 

Into the inner heart, the Soul 

With penetrating ray 

Of a Master. 

The Night-side of Life, 

Oh, how dutiful. 

When Peace and Joy and Love 

Supremely rule the Soul, the heart 

Then beats with One above 

Called the Master. 

J. M. B. 



51 




WHERE IS HEAVEN? 

|rNISTERS have assured their congregations for 
hundreds of years that all who are saved by the 
blood of Jesus will go direct to a place called 
heaven. The Catholic Church teaches that the dead in 
Purgatory can be assisted by the prayers and good 
works of the faithful on earth. I quote the following 
from a Catholic pamphlet: "Purgatory in the light of 
Reason," which harmonizes with spiritualistic teachings, 
and with Justice, ' 'Which seems to demand Purgatory ' ' 
(which spiritualists call Astral world). "You will be 
astonished at the frequency of God's declared promise 
to reward or punish ACCORDING TO ONE'S WORKS. 
Therefore, some will be punished longer and more severly 
than others ; and how will this be if there be no punish- 
ment but hell ? Matthew V, verse 26, speaks of a prison 
house in the other world from which there is no exit 
until the last farthing will have been paid; Heaven is 
not a prison house, and no last farthing can be paid 
in hell ; therefore, Matthew must refer to another place. 
Call it what you please; Catholics call it Purgatory." 

Now let us consider Dr. J. Whitcomb Brougher's 
arguments. He is the pastor of the Temple Baptist 
Church of Los Angeles, which claims to have one of the 
largest congregations, if not the greatest membership 
of any Baptist Church in the United States. On Jan- 
uary 1, 1920, I commenced the New Year by writing to 
Dr. Brougher, and I quote some portions of the letter 
herewith in order that my readers may realize that I 
am not captious or unfair in asking and pressing for an 
opportunity to convince my clerical friend of his error 
of judgment. 

[52] 



Where Is Heaven ? 53 

"It is with the greatest sincerity, purity of motive 
and enthusiasm that I write this letter to you, and I 
do trust you to accept the thoughts contained here in 
just the spirit in which they leave me. 

"On the 29th of last September I sent you a copy of 
my book, 'Illustrious Madmen of the Ages,' and I trust 
you have read it, though you did not acknowledge the 
receipt of the book. My father was a Presbyterian min- 
ister, and later an Evangelist, and I have been brought 
up with every advantage of a Christian home. I was a 
member of Dr. Locke's church for years, but I felt myself 
compelled to leave the Methodist Church on account 
of the lack of intelligent interpretation regarding the 
'after life;' this knowledge I had to get in ways that 
were not always pleasant to me; but after years of in- 
vestigation, reading and studying evidence of phe- 
nomena that have happened in my own home, I NOW 
KNOW that we live on after the change called death. 
I heard your sermon last summer, 'Do Spooks walk and 
talk?' (Apparently he did not even know that spooks 
are not actual spirits). You said NO! I say YES! I 
have seen spirit forms and heard spirit voices; and I 
believe that those Bible stories which record the trances, 
dreams, prophesy, healing, and other manifestations are 
not only possible, but are evidential here and now. Many 
of the noted clergymen of our country, as well as in 
Europe, are coming into the light of knowledge, and 
admitting that they are satisfied that we live on, and 
on, and that the facts of Spiritualism are true. 

"In the sermon that you preached against Spiritual- 
ism you unknowingly said many things that were not 
true. No one can get an insight into the 'unseen,' or 
into the great spiritual truths of life in a few weeks, 
months, or years. The knowledge comes only after years 
of bodily effort, spiritual self -searching, and the sincere 
desire of the soul to get actual proof. 

"I believe that "the fingers of a man's hand wrote on 
the wall in Belshazzer's palace." I believe that "Jesus, 



54 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

Peter, James and John talked with Moses and Elias, 
who had been dead over a thousand years.' ' I believe 
that a " Jacob's Ladder Dream is being seen by millions 
of Spiritualists in the world today, and that the angels 
are Descending as well as Ascending. ' ' If God is • * just 
the same today, ' ' and your Bible is true, then the woman 
of Endor was the "medium" who brought the spirit of 
Samuel to Saul and gave him a true message. 

' ' I believe also that ' Christianity Began with a Dream. ' 
Did it not ? 

. "Listen! Math. 1-20, 'But while he (Joseph) thought 
on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared 
unto him IN A DREAM, saying: Joseph, thou son of 
David, fear not to take unto thee, Mary, thy wife; for 
that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.' 

* ' I believe that ' Peter in Joppa was in trance, and in 
his vision heard the words, 'Arise, Peter, Slay and eat.' 
I believe that 'Paul spoke with tongues and prophesied.' 
I believe the 12th chapter of 1st Corinthians, which 
begins with, 'Now concerning Spiritual things I would 
not have you ignorant.' Heb. 1-14 reads: 'Are they 
not all MINISTERING SPIRITS, sent forth to min- 
ister for them that shall be heirs of salvation. ' 1st John 
4-1 says: Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, 
whether they are of God." Then there must be good 
spirits from God, as well as evil spirits. Open your 
mind for only the best to manifest, — and all will be 
well! I also believe that 'John on the Isle of Patmos 
was IN THE SPIRIT on the Lord's Day, and heard a 
great Voice. Now, Dr. Brougher, as President of the 
Francis Church of Truth, I hereby extend to you a 
most cordial invitation to attend our regular services 
on any Tuesday evening, — as I know that you cannot 
come on Sunday night, — to see for yourself that we do 
not answer questions in the manner that you said we 
did ! That Rev. Geo. Francis works simply by the power 
of Spirit to his brain, through the science of Psych- 
ometry, merely touching any article, placed on a table 



Where Is Heaven ? 55 

by the people as they come in. See for yourself that 
there is no "switching," as you said there was. All is 
done in the glare of electric lights. 

"We have regular church service, and will sing your 
favorite hymns. You will be welcome to our church, to 
occupy a seat on the platform, or to sit as an investigator 
in the audience; to come alone, or bring a delegation 
(and that would suit us fine), for then you would realize 
that we did not know your followers, and the tests would 
be more convincing. Place your own articles on the 
table, where they will remain in plain view, and in 
the light. Or, write a question, you or your friends, 
place it on the table yourself ; get one of the independent 
messages, without the aid of material objects, through 
Psychometry. 

' ' Come and see for yourself ; surely the truth cannot 
be harmful to you, or to any of those who accompany 
you. You will be welcome, whether you notify us or not 
of your intended presence. We will reserve seats for 
you, if you care to attend and avail yourself of this 
opportunity, either publicly or privately, to prove for 
all time that the spirits of the so-called dead can and 
do communicate with the living here, and now. I per- 
sonally write this letter in the spirit of helpfulness, as 
no one in this great scheme of life can well claim infal- 
libility. I think that you should know these facts! 

"Dr. Russell H. Conwell, pastor of the great Baptist 
church in Philadelphia, has had the courage to give to 
the world the story of how he conversed with the spirit 
of his dead wife, who had passed over more than thirty 
years ago. He proved that it was not by mental telep- 
athy, and that it was not the power of the Devil. That 
she maintained her identity, her memory, and was alive 
in a world of progression and activity. What a knowl- 
edge! 

' ' I wish you had the proof that I have had ; also that 
I had the opportunity to sway the public mind that you 
have. Such a combination would do a great work for 



56 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

good, for the Divine Cause. God's work here on earth 
would sooner be established, than by teaching and 
preaching about something you have not thoroughly in- 
vestigated. 

' ■ I now leave this with you, and expect a reply to this 
letter, for you can but feel that it is written in the spirit 
of utmost friendliness, and with a hope that you will 
at least be open to conviction on this great subject, 
which is now taking the attention of the greatest minds 
on the planet today. I wish you the best of all things, — 
greater spiritual light, — greater insight into the so-called 
'hidden' things of life. May we not have the pleasure of 
having you at some of our meetings soon? Let me hear 
from you on this matter." 

I received no reply to this New Year letter up to the 
28th of January, 1920, on which date I wrote again as 
follows: "Dear Dr. Brougher. Some time ago I wrote 
you a letter regarding an invitation to the Francis 
Church of Truth, Spiritualist, in the Majestic Theatre 
Building, Los Angeles, Cal. I am disappointed at not 
getting a reply. I want an answer to that letter, Dr. 
Brougher, and I expect it, for I want you to see that we 
do not answer sealed questions in the manner you said 
we did in your sermon on 'Do spooks walk and talk?' 
I think you owe it to the principle of justice; for you 
were certainly unfair (as thousands know here in Los 
Angeles), when you made that assertion, and I also 
want an answer to those questions I put to you. If you 
do not care to come in person, please send a personal 
representative, or a delegation, who will be treated with 
the greatest respect and cordiality; let him or them see 
that Mr. Geo. Francis, the pastor, reads by the Spirit, 
and that he does not have the audience 'Fixed' in the 
manner you acknowledged having arranged with the 
members of your choir the night you preached that ser- 
mon against spiritualism. 

"If you think that we are 'fakes' and do not give real 
messages, do not get en rapport with the loved ones 



Where Is Heaven ? 57 

passed on to greater activities, and that we can do 
nothing without a 'Fixed' audience, then you are in 
a position to extend an invitation to Rev. George Francis 
of the Francis Church of Truth, to go to your church, 
at any time you suggest, and give messages and tests 
from your platform! We are prepared to accept such 
an invitation as we hereby extend you and members of 
your church. We want you to either accept it or come 
to our services at any time you care to, and without 
notifying us, if you wish to thus safeguard yourself. 

"Remember, Dr. Brougher, this is sent in the best 
spirit and with the kindliest feelings, but with A BURN- 
ING DESIRE FOR THE TRUTH. What say you? 
We await with interest your reply! As President of 
the church, I personally extend you this invitation, and 
expect you to take action of some kind at once. Let me 
know just where you stand. Surely the truth cannot 
hurt you. Sincerely yours, James McGregor Beatty." 

On February 4, 1920, I received the following letter 
from Temple Baptist Church: "My dear Mr. Beatty. 
Your letter of January 28 came duly to hand. Dr. 
Brougher is away on a three weeks' vacation. He wanted 
me to say that he would be glad to accept your invita- 
tion (he does not say which one), if it were not for 
the fact that he is far too busy at present. Thanking 
you for the courtesy of the invitation, most sincerely, 
Henry Miles Cook" (Secy, to Dr. Brougher). 

After trying to see Dr. Brougher several times, I was 
informed that he was going East for a few weeks, so I 
rested until his return. But I was determined to get 
his ultimatum, and I did ! On March 21, 1920, I wrote 
a letter, the tenor of which was : ' ' Dear Dr. Brougher. 
Am very glad you are back again in the land of sunshine 
and flowers, as I have waited a long time to write you 
again about the engagement I am so anxious for you to 
make with me, as set forth in my previous letters, regard- 
ing a visit to our services on the 8th floor of the Majestic 
Theatre Building. Your last letter stated that you would 



58 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

be very glad to accept the invitation when you were not 
so busy, so I am writing you now, asking that you set 
a date far enough ahead that you are sure of it, and 
come down to see that we do not 'Carry on' as you said 
we did! 

' ' It seems very strange to me that you can condescend 
to appear on your platform with Mr. Cunning, a self- 
confessed trickster, and publicly advertised 'fake me- 
dium,' and still refuse to come to a church where we 
are trying, with all our souls, to be of use to humanity ! 
I was in the audience on Thursday evening of the ' Cun- 
ning Week,' when he professed to expose Spiritualism; 
you were called up on the platform to amplify this ex- 
hibition of exposing Spiritualism by his magical tricks. 
He was a trickster ! He admitted it ! He is still fooling 
the public! And he apparently pulled the wool over 
your eyes (maybe he didn't). 

"It may be of interest to you to learn that since the 
'Cunning' farcical expose, our hall has become over- 
crowded; for the average educated layman knew just 
how every trick was accomplished ! I saw them exposed 
twenty years ago! Personally, I have never seen such 
fakes attempted in any spiritualist church in the land. 
Come to our services, and see that you and Cunning did 
us a great injustice in making those statements ; you cer- 
tainly did us no actual harm, for the truth will stand 
out forever ! 

"It is, I claim, a proven fact that all live after they 
pass out, and go on progressing after 'death!' Please 
do not make any more remarks about our methods until 
you have personally investigated them. We are ready 
and open at all times to have you search our methods 
and investigate in every way possible, and I hereby 
challenge you, and your statements made in public ! As 
I said before, this is done in the kindliest spirit and with 
only the best intentions, and surely the truth will not 
hurt you. Thanking you, and hoping to hear from you 
soon, I am cordially yours, James McGregor Beatty." 



Where Is Heaven ? 59 

This brought the following verbatim letter from Dr. 
Brougher himself, dated March 25, 1920 : 

"My dear Mr. Beatty: I regret very much that I 
have neither the time nor the inclination to investigate 
FURTHER the subject mentioned in your letter of 
March 21st. I am too busy trying to help people who 
live in bodies here on earth, to spend my time MONKEY- 
ING with the Spirits of the departed dead. I have no 
objection to your doing it if you want to, BUT I HAVE 
NO TIME FOR IT. It will be a waste of paper and 
postage to have any further correspondence in regard 
to this matter. Yours most sincerely, J. Whitcomb 
Brougher. ' ' 

Thus it is, my orthodox friends, that one of your re- 
puted leaders, pastor of one of the largest churches in 
the land, excuses himself from meeting opponents on 
the ground that he has no time for the great truths that 
Jesus laid down concerning the After Life ; no time for 
investigation of scientific knowledge as to the condition 
of the soul after death! 

He has no time to spend "Monkeying" with the spirits 
of the departed dead ! Time, however, is no object on the 
opposition side, for he lends his platform, and by his 
presence patronizes the stage tricks of an acknowledged 
trickster, when showing the public, how he posed as a 
"medium" in order to line his pockets and victimize 
credulous minds. The Rev. Dr. is apparently willing 
to seize any opportunity to prejudice seekers after truth 
(who might wish to become honest investigators), for 
fear they finally become Spiritualists. 

"Something," says the clergy, "must be done to stem 
the tide of unorthodoxy; we must block the great prog- 
ress that Spiritualism is making all over the world ; fake 
exposes of conjuring tricks, as the assumed means prac- 
ticed by Spiritualists," is the plan that many of the 
clergy are taking. It is obvious to the theological student 
that, if the preachers obliterate all the spirit records 
out of the Bible, there will not be enough left to even 



60 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

define a " Hell. ' ' It is extraordinary that they still stand 
by a personal materialistic God, with a crown and a 
throne ; amplified with the threats of fire and brimstone, 
supervised by a personal devil, with tail, horns and hoof 
— long discarded from the universe by advanced theol- 
ogians and students of Science — in other words, the doc- 
trine of terrorizing people into being good; stagnation, 
and not progression ! 

Spiritualism with its facts dispels the dread of death 
by giving knowledge of the after life; but still they 
stand defiant, rejecting the truth which we hold is 
proven; preferring, for interested motives, to remain 
steadfast to the old pagan theories which no orthodox 
preacher can prove to be true. It is only fair to ask 
that they give us proof that there is a devil, or give 
proof that there is a literal hell, burning with fire and 
brimstone; that there is a heaven, where all the saved 
will stand with harps and sing, and sing, and sing, for 
countless millions of years, and I will admit their doc- 
trines. 

I have been seeking for evidence that our mothers and 
fathers are still conscious. I want proof that Jesus will, 
or can, forgive their earth sins ; that they will not suffer 
for the wrongs they may have done here on earth. 

I want evidential proof that this world is only about 
six thousand years old; I ask that these preachers give 
me proof that the earth was made in six (of our) days. 
I want proof that sacrificial blood must be shed before 
my soul can be saved; and, that it was necessary that 
Jesus die for my sins, — hundreds of years before I had 
committed any. 

I seek to have it proved that it is possible for the evil 
doer to go to heaven (and be happy) by allowing an 
innocent man to suffer and die for others' sins. Can 
any preacher give me certainty as to everlasting tor- 
ment ? It is impossible for the most profound preachers 
to prove these assertions, although many of their fol- 
lowers have thoughtlessly swallowed them, without ques- 



Where Is Heaven ? 61 

tion, up to the present time. Spiritualism proves there 
is life after death; an active, real, conscious existence, 
and memory of the past life, after we pass beyond this 
life on earth. It supplants a so-called faith, or belief, and 
substitutes in their place — knowledge and proof; it 
breaks down the multitudinous creeds and dogmas of the 
accepted modern churches, and refutes the sectarian 
teachings, such as that all who disagree with their beliefs 
will be burned in everlasting fire. 

The orthodox church is losing its power to hold a 
whip (of terror) over the person who has the courage 
to stand alone; who refuses to admit something he can- 
not understand, just to please a professional teacher. 

History relates that these positive preachers have con- 
sistently opposed the researches of science, philosophy, 
and every other movement interfering with their privi- 
leges, even though results would have been beneficial to 
humanity. They have thrown mud upon, persecuted, 
prosecuted, and killed by the thousands, those who op- 
posed their creeds and dogmas; but that day of intol- 
erance, or of ignorance is past! 

I wish that I could so impress everyone of my readers 
with one thought, and that is to READ and Pray, so 
that knowledge might burn itself into their conscious- 
ness for all time. Read, Study, Know. How I wish 
I had learned that many years ago! 

It is a good thing that Jesus was not "too busy" to 
prove spirit return ; He was not too busy to go ' ' monkey- 
ing" with the spirits of the dead. If he had not lived 
and fought, Dr. Brougher would not have a peg on 
which to hang his religion today. It is a good thing 
that St. Paul found time to investigate ,and prove that 
we live again, for it was Paul who said, "Quench not 
the Spirit ! Despise not prophesying ! Prove all things ! 
Hold fast that which is good." 

The preacher of today does not believe in proving 
anything, unless he is personally interested. He will 
not believe in anything unless he knows he can support 



62 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

it by some old musty ecclesiastical assertions. Many of 
them already know that the Spiritualist organizations 
prove their assertions. It is because they are so afraid 
of the truths we can prove, that they profess to believe 
the Spiritualist is in league with the devil. That may 
scare some bigoted, or thoughtless people, but daily and 
hourly the thinkers are waking up, and will continue to 
do so, for God's appointed time has arrived. 

It is admitted that Jesus found time to go with Peter, 
James and John to the Mount of Transfiguration and 
there converse with Moses and Elias, both recorded as 
having been dead over a thousand years; notwithstand- 
ing the inspired records, these positive preachers say it 
can 't be done ! Impossible ! 

It is also recorded that Peter, in a trance, heard the 
Spirit say unto him, "Behold three men seek thee. Arise, 
doubting nothing, for I have sent them." Will the 
preachers be ready to say as in Acts 26-19, "Where- 
upon, Oh, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the 
heavenly vision." 

Let me now refer to a letter I addressed to Dr. Wm. 
G. Mills, pastor of St. Paul's Presbyterian church, Los 
Angeles. "Dear Brother : Last evening I attended your 
church to hear a special sermon on 'Is communication 
possible between the dead and the living,' which dis- 
course dealt only with what you personally thought 
about it. When you ask the question, 'Is communica- 
tion possible' am not I entitled to an analytical reply? 
I wish to differ with you when you say that Spiritual- 
ism is only a matter of opinion. I doubt that you really 
believe that yourself. Personal opinion cannot inter- 
fere with, or change, Divine Law; it would be just as 
sensible for you to profess that wireless or the radio 
phone could be altered by a mere expression of per- 
sonal opinion. No one's individual theories can change 
the facts of phenomena that are emanating from the 
action of unknown laws governed by the natural forces. ' ' 

"You stated that there was no case on record in our 



"Where Is Heaven ? 63 

Old Bible, which proved communication to be possible. 
You at once refuted this, by telling about the Trans- 
figuration on the Mount, and the next Sunday preached 
on the "Witch of Endor." (The Bible refers to the 
Woman of Endor), thus dealing with another case of 
real spirit return during which the wicked King Saul 
was permitted to talk with the spirit of Samuel the 
prophet. 

"You also expressed an opinion that if anyone could 
obtain favors from God it would have been King David, 
for he was recorded as a man of God, and you instanced 
David's loss of his child, when he stated he would go 
to his child, and not the child come back to him; upon 
this, amongst other statements, you base your assertions 
that communication with the dead is impossible. David 
may have been a man after God's own heart in many 
ways, but the Psalms and other records of his life prove 
that King David was as fallible as many of the men 
living today. Many Bible students will recall that he 
had General Joab place Uriah, a soldier, in the front 
line trenches to make sure he would never come back, as 
King David was in love with the soldier's beautiful wife. 

"You stated that you were glad that your parents 
could not know of your trials and troubles here on earth, 
as they were safe with Jesus; the inference being that 
they cared nothing for those they had loved on earth. 
Christ taught the reverse! Strangely enough, you ex- 
pressed an opinion to a certain 'Alex' that you thought 
his wife would not go very far from the gates of heaven, 
but that she would be there to greet him when he passed 
over; evidently you assumed that she would know of 
his death, and that such a meeting would be possible, 
by reason of some kind of communication existent be- 
tween the two worlds; in this case you gave Alex true 
spiritual comfort by teaching him real Spiritualism, 
and — to use your own words — ' Saving him to God. f 

"After twelve years in the Presbyterian church, I be- 
gan investigating ' Life after Death, ' and having done so 



64 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

for over twenty years, I have proved that we do not 
lose our identity, or our memory, when we leave the 
mortal body; that we become one with God, by our 
individual desire only, whether it be in this life, or some 
to follow. The scientific side of this question is settled 
with many truly conscientious and thinking people, for 
it has been scientifically proven, as clearly as anything 
supernormal can be proven. Skeptics, who care to in- 
vestigate, can also prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt. 
I have never been in a spiritualist service in my life 
where such services were held in the dark, as you stated ! 
You warned your hearers not to go to Los Angeles 
Street — 'that dark, disreputable part of town' — to con- 
sult mediums; but there is no Spiritualistic Church 
there ! I ought to know, for I was National Secretary of 
the Independent Spiritualist Association of America for 
some time, and am fully informed as to the location of 
their churches. 

"Let me inform you that Spiritualists preach on the 
12th chapter of 1st Corinthians, a portion of the Bible 
the orthodox clergyman does not discuss. "Why? You 
said you believed the good old book, the Bible (and ad- 
monished us to do so), therefore you believe that 'The 
spirit of the Lord caught away Philip ! ' Do you believe 
that ' God is a Spirit ? ' They that worship Him must 
worship Him in SPIEIT AND IN TRUTH. Do you 
believe that 'John on the Isle of Patmos, heard a great 
voice behind him/ and 'that he was in the spirit on the 
Lord's Day?' If not, then you do not accept the Bible 
as the inspired Holy Word of God. Probably you will 
say: 'How can I believe, for I have never seen these 
spiritual manifestations. ' 

Millions have not seen the great lakes, nor the planet 
Mars, or the telescope that discovered it. You probably 
have not seen Africa, China, Australia or Paris; but 
you admit all these exist. Ignorance, whether in the 
realms of Science, Art, or Theology, is not culpable so 
long as it is modest in permitting others a greater knowl- 



Where Is Heaven ? 65 

edge than it possessed. It is said two thousand years 
after the death of that great spirit Jesus, who blessed 
mankind by utilizing all the spiritualistic manifestations 
now being re-discovered by the honest and true spirit- 
ulistic mediums, which lead us to a better life here, and 
absolutely prove a life hereafter, that you still go on 
preaching continually against those who believe in the 
existence of what you have been praying for — eternal 
life ; telling your followers in the interim that they will 
have it, 'in God's good time.' Hoping to hear from you 
in just the spirit in which this leaves me, I am most 
sincerely, James McGregor Beatty." Many weeks later 
I received the following letter from Dr. Mills: 

' ' My dear sir : Your letter to me came duly to hand. 
I have been so very busy that I have been unable to 
answer it until the present. And even now, it is likely 
that you will think I do not give it the time and thought 
that it deserves. Let me say first that you are quite 
right in saying, in my sermon, that I dealt with only what 
the Bible said upon the theme. And with good reason, 
as the Bible is the only authority upon the subject. 

"I can see from the tone of your letter, as well as 
from what is here and there said, that you think dif- 
ferently. Possibly Lodge, Doyle or Stead stand higher 
in your estimation as authorities. But let me say, they 
do not with the world, no more than they do with me. 
All that is for the welfare of Man to know of the future 
is revealed in the Bible and the Saviour of my life 
speaks to me from it. My brother, the one great need of 
any man's life is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who 
comes into the life of any man by yielding his will to 
Jesus Christ. When we believe thus in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, he saves us and we have everything in Him. 
We do not need communications from the ' Spirits. ' We 
have the Holy Spirit, and need not that any man, living 
or dead, should teach us. He teaches us through the 
Bible. 'If any man is willing to do His will, he shall 
know of the doctrine. ' What is needed is a better knowl- 



66 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

edge of the Book and a deeper acquaintance with Jesus. 
I note what you say about the spirit in which your let- 
ter is written, and seem to dread lest your letter should 
make me angry, and that I should forget I am a Christ- 
ian. Not at all, my Brother, not at all. Your letter 
and many others never ruffle me in the least, and I can 
truly say that for all men everywhere, and among them 
my hearers of the night of July 13th, I have nothing 
but the kindliest regards. Cordially yours, W. G. Mills. ' ' 

It is evident that this pastor evaded my questions by 
stating that all that is needed to be known to man is 
revealed in the Bible, ignoring or rejecting all its proofs 
of life after death; all its records of dreams, visions, 
trances and communications of every description. There 
is certainly no real satisfaction, sound argument, or evi- 
dence of knowledge of facts to be gleaned from this let- 
ter. Rev. Mills, however, had the courtesy to answer my 
letter and to maintain his stand, even though unable to 
support his preaching with facts. I believe this gentle- 
man, however, to be sincere in his profession, and work- 
ing to the best of his knowledge to spread the light so 
far as it is given to him to explain traditional dogma, 
but the sad part of it is, that many preachers do not 
desire to obtain more light, or, if they do, they are afraid 
to admit it. 

Now let us consider what a Congregational minister 
thinks about communication with the dead: 

Dr. Carl S. Patton, pastor of the First Congregational 
Church, Los Angeles, Cal., said in a recent sermon on 
the "Letters of a Living Dead Man," by Elsa Barker, 
formerly of Los Angeles, "The strangest thing about 
such books is that people buy them and read them, when 
there are newspapers and magazines so easily obtained. ' ' 
He called attention to the "Puerile and inconsequential 
nature of them" and said: "When the dead do speak 
to the living, I say that the dead ought to say something 
worthy of the dead, and of some moment to the living. ' ' 



Where Is Heaven ? 67 

Evidently he has not read much along the line of 
Spiritualism. He has not read Andrew Jackson Davis' 
beautiful "Harmonial Philosophy," nor the works of 
dear old Dr. Peebles. All of them wonderful books. 
He has simply followed the old, undeveloped teachings 
of bygone centuries and has not taken the time to think 
for himself on the wonderful spiritual philosophy that 
God has allowed to be found; some problems explained 
by keen investigators, others by spiritualists. Following 
an antique lead, he has walked along the sectarian rut 
instead of using his God-sent faculties of research, or 
the talents which, according to Jesus Christ, were given 
mankind for the special purpose of self-development. We 
do not give our children one class of books only, but 
gradually teach them to study along advancing lines, 
until their minds are ready to progress onward. Larger 
children, if we read the laws of God aright, are also to 
train their minds until they can judge the value of their 
preliminary instruction, and are fitted mentally to 
understand the truth contained within and beyond their 
range of studies. 

In regard to Dr. Patton's statement as to the inconse- 
quential nature of the messages given, let us note here 
what Dr. Hyslop, Secretary of the American Society for 
Psychical Research, says about that kind of message. 
Let us take this statement from one of those " easily 
obtained magazines" Dr. Patton mentioned in his ser- 
mon. Dr. Hyslop, in the American Magazine for April, 
1920, says : ' ' There is only one thing that should make 
us believe in the existence of spirits. That is for them 
to give us proof of their personal identity. And the only 
way in which this personal identity can be proven is for 
an alleged spirit to tell us facts about himself when he 
was alive. Information that pretends to be about the 
future world is no proof at all, because you can't verify 
it now ! Information about this world, is no proof that 
it comes from a spirit — unless the spirit identifies him- 
self. This is the reason the scientific investigator pays 



68 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

SPECIAL ATTENTION TO TRIVIAL STATEMENTS 
IN ALLEGED SPIRIT COMMUNICATIONS, FOR 
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE CAN TRY 
TO VERIFY, AND, IF THEY ARE VERIFIED, 
THEY HELP TO PROVE THE PERSONAL IDEN- 
TITY OF THE SPIRIT. 

"For example, suppose you go to a medium, and she 
tells you that your father wishes to communicate with 
you. If she then launches into an account (supposed 
to be coming from your father), of conditions in the 
next world, you cannot check up that information and 
prove that it is true. YOU don't know anything about 
the next world. IF HIS ALLEGED SPIRIT TELLS 
YOU NOTHING ELSE, YOU HAVE NO PROOF 
THAT HE HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. HE 
MUST TELL YOU THINGS ABOUT THIS WORLD, 
AND ABOUT HIS LIFE IN THIS WORLD, SO THAT 
YOU CAN PROVE THAT THEY ARE TRUE, AND 
THAT THEY COULD COME ONLY FROM HIM. 

"If an alleged spirit, who claimed to be your father, 
told you that on December 16, 1889, he bought a copy 
of Emerson's Essays, wrote his name and the date on the 
fly-leaf, and sent it to his cousin, George, in Sacramento ; 
if this fact was previously unknown to you, or to the 
medium; and if you write to your California relatives, 
whom you may have never seen, and ask if such a book 
is in existence, and if you later receive a letter saying 
that the cousin mentioned is dead, but after considerable 
search the book described has been found in a box in the 
attic, then you would have something that ought to be 
considered evidential. ' ' 

So these efforts to be contentious can be easily answered 
by a rational, unprejudiced student, possessed of a sin- 
cere and never-ceasing desire to investigate, and to prove 
the truth of Spirit Return. If we can only get the 
clergy to be fair to the Spiritualist, and carry out the 
Apostolic precepts, "Come let us reason together," and 



Where Is Heaven ? 69 

"Prove all things," incorporated into their theological 
creeds; in place of spending their little span of earth 
time in arguments as to whether they shall retain the 
words "The Holy Catholic Church" in the Apostles' 
Creed, we shall have advanced God's kingdom to the 
great advantage of humanity. 

It seems astonishing to reflect upon when one hears 
the clergy read the creed in church, wherein they sol- 
emnly aver, "I believe in the Communion of Saints," 
and then proceed to stultify themselves ; for, as recorded 
in this boo^:, many positive preachers state that they do 
not believe in any such thing as communion with de- 
parted spirits. Many of them have repeatedly affirmed 
from their rostrums," There has not been any scientific 
demonstration of a future life." "There is no proof of 
any communication whatsoever between this and any 
other world." "There has never been a genuine mes- 
sage from the so-called spirit world." Can they recon- 
cile this, or explain what they mean when they say with 
much apparent reverence that they "believe in the com- 
munion of saints?" 

Again, whilst reciting the Apostles' creed, all orthodox 
preachers confess they believe "that Jesus sitteth on the 
right hand of God, the Father Almighty" (a statement 
which they cannot prove), and also, "The communion of 
saints," or in good old English, "Communication of 
Spirit," which we claim is proven; then immediately 
they proceed to deny their own affirmation of faith, and 
preach sermons on the subject asserting that such com- 
munication is as yet an impossibility. Why all this side- 
stepping of such a vital religious principle ? When will 
God send to earth a real leader to preach the purest 
teachings within the walls of orthodoxy? 

We need a preacher who will systematically eliminate 
the sectarian dogmas and creeds, replacing them with 
the truly Divine doctrines of Christ, and practical serv- 
ice to mankind at large. 



70 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

"We sorely need intellectual men; brave men; an 
Ingersoll, a Paine, a Voltaire, a Hume or a Luther. The 
orthodox church surely needs a Roger Williams; men 
like Theodore Parker and Beecher, or another Abbot. 
The time has passed however for Intolerance, Ignorance 
or Insanity to rule religion as in the past; we can get 
along very well without another leader who would emu- 
late the deeds of John Calvin, one of the founders of 
the Presbyterian Church, who caused Dr. Servetus, a 
learned monk, to be publicly burned alive when Calvin 
was victor in a theological debate with Servetus, regard- 
ing the doctrines of Martin Luther. Calvin's only com- 
ment was, that he wanted him beheaded, not burned. 

A typical leader, to my mind, is one who studies the 
natural laws, for the good of the church of the future; 
one who teaches the views expressed by the Rev. Charles 
L. Tweedale, F. R. Gr. S., Vicar of Weston, Yorkshire, 
who says, "It is idle for the church to raise the 'devil' 
cry, as she vainly does, and say that the modern evi- 
dence of the spirit world are devil impersonations. If 
so, what proof has the modern church that the appear- 
ances to the prophets and the appearances of the risen 
Christ were not also tricks of impersonating devils ? She 
has not a rap. 

" In vain does the church maintain that it is unlawful 
and wicked to enter into communication with the spirit 
world in the face of Daniel 9, 20 to 27, and Daniel 10, 
3 and 12, and so on. Let the church — Roman, Angelican 
and Noncomformist, take heed of this one fact before it 
is too late ; Ancient and modern psychic phenomena stand 
or fall together. If there are no angels, no visions, no 
spirit communications now, then there never were any, 
and revealed religion is a humbug and a fraud." 

There is a profound, incontrovertible truth in the 
above statement. If the modern preacher wishes to 
obtain and maintain the confidence of the average think- 
ing man and woman who attends his church, the less he 
has to say about the devil in solving its sectarian prob- 



Where Is Heaven ? 71 

lems, the more likely he is to retain the personal respect 
of those rational human beings who form his congrega- 
tion, and the better it will be for all concerned. Also 
sooner shall we arrive at some spiritual structure upon 
which we can place our feet as on a rock of truth and 
reason. If the church is seeking Truth, it is certainly 
its duty to apply itself to the study of "psychical" re- 
search in the effort to solve the many unknown mysteries 
of the Divine religion of our Creator. They would then 
learn to join investigating hands with those who are 
fast convincing the world that there is no actual death. 
It has been left to laymen and outsiders to produce such 
evidence and to satisfy mankind that life beyond the 
grave is a proven fact. There is, however, no reason, so 
far as we are concerned, to prevent the various churches 
joining in friendly rivalry, and so working in unison 
with spiritualists in the endeavor to instruct mankind 
and fit them to pass through the portals of death, in 
spite of the fact that many know so little of the life 
beyond. 

There are plenty of facts for all to learn, and innum- 
erable opportunities to apply our knowledge, when 
acquired, for the uplifting of mankind and in the serv- 
ice of humanity, by teaching these newly discovered 
truths; also in research for the still greater revelation 
that will surely come down through the years. 

This is the age of Science and the almost daily dis- 
coveries in the realms of nature justify us in consid- 
ering the possibilities that Scientists possess for extend- 
ing our knowledge of what, for want of a better term, 
we know as Psychic laws. The recent war has led to 
investigation of etherial conditions. In this sphere, Mar- 
coni did wonders ; Edison is known as a wizard. These 
experts are more generally known to the public, but 
hundreds of learned men are also developing in their 
laboratories wonders that will far exceed the wireless 
or the phonograph. That other worlds beyond may be 
investigated by delicate instruments is not beyond their 



72 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

conception today. New natural laws are being discov- 
ered. New theories promulgated. Fields of research 
undreamed of a few years ago are now being actively 
studied. Brain activity appears to have been recently 
stimulated by the Creator. May we not assume that the 
present is God's appointed time for mankind to follow 
the Christ teaching, "Seek and ye shall find." It is 
pertinent to our consideration of Life after Death to 
briefly study the subject of Vibrations, for the theory 
of most spiritualists is that by this means we are the 
better enabled to obtain results, and thereby prove that 
the so-called dead are actually only transplanted fo some 
other sphere. 

Sir J. J. Thomson, England's greatest authority on 
the atom, gives us a picture of vibratory energy. He 
tells us that the atomic energy stored in an ounce of 
chlorine "is about the amount of work required to keep 
the Mauretania going at full speed for a week," and 
that the splitting up of the atoms of any known sub- 
stance would involve enormous transformations of 
energy. In fact, the explosions of the atoms in a few 
pounds of earth matter might be sufficient to shatter a 
continent. Sir Oliver Lodge tells that "the time will 
come when some form of atomic energy will take the 
place of coal as a source of power," and he almost re- 
joices that we do not now know how to release it, for he 
adds, ' ' I hope that the human race will not discover how 
to use this energy until it has developed brains enough 
to use it properly, because, if the discovery is made by 
the wrong people this planet would be unsafe." 

I might repeat here a thought given me by Prof. Ed- 
gar Lucien Larkin, Director of the Mount Lowe Astro- 
nomical Observatory on Mt. Lowe, California. He 
pointed out that "Experimental Science is not yet 300 
years of age; but, that the so-called occult science has 
been studied for at least 50,000 years, and that most of 



Where Is Heaven 1 73 

the old philosophers were aware of a force, or energy, 
whose existence has not yet been re-discovered by mod- 
ern scientific instruments. " " The coming race, ' ' he said, 
' ' would rediscover, or at least become aware of the exist- 
ence of this mighty, unknown power. When humanity 
is able to appreciate it, this God-given wisdom may be 
released, but it is very improbable that this knowledge 
will be attained under existing conditions, for this force 
could be used for evil, and even to annihilate entire 
nations. ' ' 

In his book, "The Matchless Altar of the Soul," he 
writes: ''The passage of solid matter through matter; 
the passage of a glass of water through thick cloth; 
these, and a hundred more such phenomena, so-called, 
but really natural and now daily occurring, are all due 
to a higher phase of electricity, the electronic state 
known to adepts, but not yet discovered by science in 
the use of any kind of instrument. The reader must be 
convinced that no such thing as a miracle can exist." 

When we realize the wonderful natural phenomena 
which are actually taking place daily, under our very 
eyes, who can venture to predict what discovery shall 
come next? The church claims that for two thousand 
years God has not spoken to suffering humanity. They 
are that stiff-necked, stubborn generation that constantly 
refuses to accept the conditions, or follow the means 
whereby God makes His will known; and they refuse 
to believe the possibility even today, yet claim that 
they believe everything recorded as having happened two 
thousand years ago. Creeds and dogmas are therefore 
responsible for much that enervates or tends to stagnate 
the human mind. 

Positive preachers say they believe the Bible to be 
the Holy Word of God, but apparently forget that it 
was inspired, from time to time, and collated by the 
utilization of men of the psychic type; the Bible came 
into existence by spirit inspiration, and the prophets. 
or seers, saw and heard what is recorded therein. Most 



74 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

preachers will tell you that "God is love," but insist 
that He ordered the killing of the first-born of Egypt, 
which meant that every house in the land mourned for 
its children ; its best beloved ! They are not consistent ; 
for, though the Bible makes the definite statement, they 
will refuse to believe that "your sons and your daugh- 
ters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see vis- 
ions, and your old men shall dream dreams." 

They profess to believe the tragic story told in the 
15th Chapter of 1st Samuel, which reads: "Thus, said 
the Lord of Hosts, I remember that which Amelek did 
to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he 
came up from Egypt. Go now and smite Amelek and 
utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, 
BUT SLAY BOTH MAN AND WOMAN, INFANT 
AND SUCKLING, OX AND SHEEP, CAMEL AND 
ASS." 

Yet they will utterly deny the possibility of spirits, 
or those who once lived in our midst, having power to 
strengthen or comfort us by their prophesy (in spirit 
messages) today: despite the verses we read in 1st Cor- 
inthians, 14th Chapter. "Follow after charity, and 
desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye shall prophesy. 
He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, 
and exhortation, and comfort. Wherefore, brethren, 
covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. ' ' 

Despite their denunciations of Spiritualism, and the 
denials of its phenomena by the Methodist church, listen 
to the following passages (which are true spiritualistic 
teachings), written by Mrs. J. H. Knowles, and ex- 
tracted from the "Home Department Quarterly" for 
January, February, March, 1920. This magazine is pub- 
lished by the Methodist Book Concern, with offices in 
nine of the largest cities of America: "Shall we know 
each other there? The disciples knew Jesus after His 
death and resurrection. MOSES AND ELIAS HAD 
NOT LOST THEIR IDENTITY, WHEN THEY CAME 
FROM HEAVEN TO TALK WITH JESUS ON THE 



Where Is Heaven ? 75 

MOUNT, THOUGH THEY HAD BEEN THERE 
HUNDREDS OF YEARS," she writes, "here are 
many mansions in the Father's house — how wide apart 
as we count space, I do not know; but if we can flash 
messages around the world in a few seconds, I am sure 
there will be ways to communicate with each other over 
there, so there will never be any sense of separation. I 
will be I, and you will be you. ' ' 

Pure spiritualism, as we conceive it to be, and that is 
being handed to the Methodists every month in the year. 
I have studied that Quarterly for years, and I have 
read hundreds of similar passages. These excerpts are 
fine — and also true — but how can this church, which ad- 
mits the truth of those teachings by their publication 
in an organ of Methodism, deny the same truth as now 
formulated by Spiritualism? 

Now see how Mrs. Knowles distorts, in true Meth- 
odistic spirit, what the Bible says about the vision of 
Peter in Joppa. She writes: "Peter went up on the 
housetop to pray. I have no doubt that he asked the 
Lord to direct him where to go and what to do, for that 
would be the natural thing for a sincere man like Peter 
to do. The answer came in a surprising way. He was 
very hungry, and while waiting for the noonday meal 
to be served he fell asleep, or into a subconscious state 
from bodily faintness." This is not the accepted trans- 
lation. The Bible says : ' ' And he became hungry, and 
would have eaten: but while they made ready, HE 
FELL INTO A TRANCE." Read Acts 10-10. It would 
be most unwise to make the story read thus, — so that 
the Methodist church might have to admit that Peter 
was actually IN A TRANCE. It is extraordinary that 
the "Changers" of the Bible failed to revise that one 
word into "a sub-conscious state," as Mrs. Knowles 
called it. 

She follows on: "The voice of God said twice over 
in tones he could not mistake, 'What God has cleansed 
that call not thou common or unclean'. But the Bible 



76 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

says: ' While Peter THOUGHT ON THE VISION, 
THE SPIRIT SAID UNTO HIM, Behold three men 
seek thee, arise, therefore, get thee down and go with 
them.' Peter himself said, according to the Bible, 
'And THE SPIRIT bade me go with them, doubting 
nothing.' He did not say it was God. Again, he de- 
scribed how he had seen an angel (or spirit) in his 
house, which stood and said unto him, 'Send men to 
Joppa.' Also read in the Acts, 22nd Chapter, 17th 
verse, what Paul said about it : ' And it came to pass 
that, when I, Paul, was come to Jerusalem, even while 
I prayed in the temple, I WAS IN a TRANCE.' " 

It is inexplicable why the modern church always 
professes to be so much opposed to acknowledging a 
trance condition, for even a casual reading of the Bible 
shows clearly that many of the great prophets (or seers) 
of that time were subject to the trance state. The vis- 
ion and dream condition existed then and we now profit 
thereby. Mrs. Knowles evidently thinks so highly of the 
subject, and the lesson it teaches — almost two thousand 
years after it happened, as to give a large amount of 
space to it in her writings ; and therein she strongly af- 
firms that God is just the same as then ; that truth never 
changes. Notwithstanding such affirmation, she pro- 
ceeds to emphatically deny its possibility today; the 
power she eulogizes she assumes to be used only by God 
in Peter's time, but it is that of the devil in our day. 
What inconsistency ! Let us avoid such brain-deadening 
fallacies of creedal stagnation. Let us get away from 
the slavery of hidebound sects and dogmas. 

Wake up and scale the heights of the Infinite. Use 
your intellect and let your soul gaze over the valleys 
of Divine Progression and heights of Wisdom. Read 
the works of great thinkers of all classes, orthodox or 
otherwise, Ingersoll, Voltaire, Thomas Paine 's "Age of 
Reason. ' ' Then read your Bible, praying that God will 
send you spirit guidance to interpret it. Study the 
power of the Almighty as shown by Astronomy. Real- 



Where Is Heaven ? 77 

ize that God's nature laws are unchanged and evidenced 
in all scientific studies, as shown by Chemistry and Ge- 
ology. Then take Philosophy. Study " White's History 
of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christen- 
dom," and "Draper's Intellectual Development of 
Europe." Read in your course of study, the evidence 
of Evolution, as given in "Wallace's Book on Darwin- 
ism"; also read "The Life of Roger Bacon"; there are 
hundreds of interesting works by scientists, theologians, 
spiritualists and others for the student to study. 

If everyone in America would read some such course 
in mind expansion, and study thoughtfully, with a firm 
desire to seek truth and knowledge, they would forever 
banish the slavish influence of creeds and brain-blinding 
dogmas, ecclesiastical inconsistencies; and the many 
fallacies taught by so-called theology would give way 
to the "Soul Troth" given by God himself. 

Along the line of modern scientific discovery let me 
mention a wonder of our age. which makes it possible 
to talk along a beam of light, natural or artificial. In 
the "Harbinger of Light." September 1st, 1919, we 
are informed that "Dr. A. 0. Rankine. of University 
College. London, has succeeded in harnessing the sun's 
rays and using them as a means of voice transmission. 
He has completed a remarkable invention which makes 
it possible to talk along a beam of light, using it as a 
substitute for the telephone wire with a transmitter at 
one end and a receiver at the other. This invention has 
been approved by the Admiralty, and has the advantage 
over wireless telegraphy, or telephony, in rendering a 
conversation absolutely secret. 

"In one of the laboratories at University College. Dr. 
Rankine gave a demonstration of this new method of 
voice transmission. Two electrical instruments were 
placed some distance apart, and a beam of electric light 
was projected from one to the other. Dr. Rankine spoke 
into the voice receiver, which resembles a small phono- 
graphic sound box. 'I have already had talks with sev- 



78 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

eral friends over a distance of a mile and a half, and 
there would not be great difficulty in holding a conver- 
sation over a distance of seven or eight miles, (that be- 
ing about the extent to which a beam of light could be 
concentrated on the horizon). By increasing the size 
of the mirrors and the electrical power, greater dis- 
tances could be traversed, were it possible to throw a 
beam of light further. Endless possibilities are opened 
up by this invention. "With this in actual view who can 
say, 'That or that CANNOT be done?' " 

Let me recall some of the beautiful thoughts ex- 
pressed by one of the world's best known and best loved 
exponents of Spiritualism, ninety-nine years old, J. M. 
Peebles, M. A., M. D., Ph. D., who says: "The spirit 
world is here, there, everywhere. When the death an- 
gel of deliverance comes, our friends do not ncessarily 
depart from us — they only cease to mainfest themselves 
through the same physical body. Their attractions and 
memories continue to draw them to those they love. This 
love principle is the ruling force of all worlds. Love 
is immortal. The heavens and the hells are more ' con- 
ditions' than localities. Compensation runs like a sil- 
ver thread through the universe. It is cause and effect, 
sowing and reaping. The thoughts, words, deeds of the 
present life weave the network, murky or clear, dark 
or bright, of the future. No spirit can get away from 
himself. 

"Memories, like shadows, will follow us all. Oh, the 
bitter gnawing, crushing pains, and agonies of remorse 
that torture the depraved, and the viciously selfish, in 
that retributive and adjusting realm of the hereafter. 
And yet God is Love. Mercy's door is never shut. Re- 
pentance is ever possible, and progress a universal law. 
Jesus preached to the spiritually imprisoned. The re- 
formers of this life are the preachers of spirit life. The 
two worlds, all worlds, constitute one grand brother- 
hood of sympathetic intelligence. Life on earth is only 



Where Is Heaven 1 79 

a brief school, a discipline, a pilgrimage. Let us, then, 
kindly help each other along the tiresome journey ere we 
put our sandals off, and lay our burdens down by the 
cypress trees that shade death's peaceful river. " 

Read in the Old Testament evidence of spirit phe- 
nomena, as told in the story describing the Feast of Bel- 
shazer ; it is so worded generally, as to give the impres- 
sion that it was "the hand of God" that appeared on the 
wall, but the true version reads: "In the same hour 
came forth fingers OF A MAN'S HAND, and wrote 
over against the candlestick, upon the plaster of the 
wall, of the king's palace. AND THE KING SAW 
THE PART OF THE HAND THAT WROTE." Meth- 
odists prefer you to read it as "God's hand," for a 
man's hand would be evidential proof of the spirit ma- 
terialization of a man's hand, writing an intelligent mes- 
sage. 

The Catholic Bible says in Daniel 5-5 : ' 'In the same 
hour there appeared fingers, as it were of the hand of 
a man, writing over against the candlestick upon the 
surface of the wall of the king's palace; AND THE 
KING BEHELD THE JOINTS OF THE HAND 
THAT WROTE." 

After a long, protracted and careful study, Sir Arthur 
Conan Doyle writes: "What are the churches going to 
do about it? Are they going to continue to talk non- 
sense about diabolism? Are they going to say it was 
the Devil who converted me into belief in life after 
death? If that is the devil's work he is the most valu- 
able member of the community. If they do, then we 
must form such a religious body as may sweep others 
away in time. If they are wise they will meet us half- 
way. They will realize that we are the most powerful 
allies in the battle against materialism. If they are go- 
ing to drive us out, they are going to drive out the 
greatest living dynamic thing that has come into religion 
this last 2000 years. I am not here to convert anybody. 



80 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

I am here because I think I have a mission to say this 
thing. All I have — my literary reputation, my small 
savings — everything, is perfect dross to me compared 
with the happiness I derive from this knowledge." 

There's a beautiful view at the top o' the hill, 

If the strength be yours to climb. 
There is always a lift, and a rift o' the clouds, 

That disclose the peaks sublime. 
The road may be rough, 
You may blow and puff, 

But never you mind, soon you 're scaling the bluff, 
Then yours is the view at the top o' the hill, 
If you've but the strength to climb. 

J. M. B. 



HELL-FIRE IS NOT LITERAL 

fc&g^SWlNCE quoting from an article written by Dr. 
/jljflSla Hyslop, Secretary of the American Society for 
llJI^Ifffl Psychical Research, which appeared in the 
American Magazine for April, 1920, the public has been 
informed of his death. Referring to this, Mr. Arthur 
Brisbane in his "Today" column said: 

"Doctor Hyslop, psychologist, who said the dead 
could talk, is now among the dead, unfortunately. His 
friends say he will come back and tell us about it. But 
WILL he" "Because he died of a clot on the brain, 
and although his spirit was within his brain he was un- 
able to speak long before he died." He is asking the 
question, "How can he speak from the other side of the 
grave without brain, lungs or vocal chords?" He also 
asks why ghosts talk only to those who believe in ghosts. 
Anyone can hear a telephone message." 

Any thinking person will readily understand that Mr. 
Brisbane is relying principally upon the comparative ig- 
norance of his readers on the subject of life and death ; 
otherwise he cannot expect to have this statement taken 
seriously. He forgets that nearly all the scientific men 
in the world who have taken up the practical study of 
Spiritualism, as a science, were, previous to that time, 
materialists ; some even held the opinion generally known 
as atheistic; yet these, after long years of research and 
study, were forced to secede from their former views 
and admit an absolute knowledge that, — "the spirit of 
man both lives and functions after the change called 
Death." These representative scientists of our time, 
did not admit a previous belief in apparitions, yet they 

[81] 



82 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

received communications in like manner to many who 
did believe in them, and have been convinced by mes- 
sages from their own departed. 

I want to ask Mr. Brisbane if he really thinks that 
anyone can hear a telephone message without first com- 
plying with the conditions necessary he fore such a mes- 
sage can be received. Even Mr. Brisbane MUST allow 
the operator, who represents the MEDIUM, to function 
according to the technicalities laid down by science re- 
specting Telephony. Persons who want an earthly mes- 
sage, therefore, MUST comply with prerequisites. If 
they do this, whether they believe in ghosts or not, they 
will receive a reply in due time. We are all subject 
to natural law, in one form or another, some more, some 
less. According to the theory of Mr. Brisbane, Dr. Hys- 
lop cannot come back with a message because he died 
"with a blood clot on his brain," and he presumes, or 
rather assumes, that, therefore his entity will be unable 
to speak from the other side ; as such an entity is, in his 
opinion (another unproved presumption), without brain, 
lungs, or vocal chords. 

Surely Mr. Brisbane must believe that the Spirit or 
Soul of man, if no physical body, as we understand it, 
lives on after the change called death; that a mere ana- 
tomical change in our material body does not in any 
way influence our spiritual existence. Does not Mr. Bris- 
bane realize that God controls the blood-clotted brain of 
Dr. Hyslop, even after it is laid in the grave, and, that 
his spirit, even his body, can live and function so long 
as the Divine Power continues to control it? 

Surely he does not believe that the disintegration of 
the material bodies of our American soldiers during the 
war has prejudiced their God-bestowed power of living 
in one of the many mansions of Christ, and therein com- 
pleting a beautiful spiritual upgrowth of life. Another 
opportunity, with increased knowledge and with far 
higher instructions, to overcome earthly desires, and 
work out that series of lives which shall fit him to realize 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 83 

Truth, and the blessed promises made by Christ to Man- 
kind. 

President Wilson said in this regard: "We all be- 
lieve, I hope, the SPIRITS OF THESE MEN ARE NOT 
BURIED WITH THEIR BONES. THEIR SPIRITS 
LIVE. I HOPE— I BELIEVE, THAT THEIR SPIR- 
ITS ARE PRESENT WITH US AT THIS HOUR. I 
HOPE THAT I FEEL THE COMPULSION OF 
THEIR PRESENCE." 

The late Cardinal James Gibbons, head of the Roman 
Catholic Church in the United States, declared: "Man 
may imprison and starve, may wound and kill the body, 
but the soul is beyond his reach, and is as impalpable to 
his touch as the sun's ray. The temple of the body may 
be reduced to ashes, BUT THE SPIRIT THAT ANI- 
MATED THE TEMPLE CANNOT BE EXTIN- 
GUISHED. The body, which is from Man, Man may 
take away; but the soul, which is from God, NO MAN 
CAN DESTROY. THE DUST SHALL RETURN 
INTO ITS EARTH FROM WHENCE IT CAME, 
AND THE SPIRIT TO GOD WHO GAVE IT." 

That is what Spiritualists believe about Dr. Hyslop's 
body and spirit. Physical imperfections here, cannot 
affect him prejudicially after he is passed to spirit life. 
I would ask Mr. Brisbane if he really believes that the 
killing of Socrates by the hemlock poison route affected 
his soul, or spirit. Is not the spirit of that great teacher 
alive today — somewhere ? Will he assert that the physi- 
cal sufferings, the maiming of the body, and the cruci- 
fixion of Jesus of Nazareth prejudicially affected His 
progress beyond the confines of earth, or delayed his 
entrance into the spiritual life beyond the grave? We 
believe that the Christ Spirit is flooding the entire uni- 
verse today ! Just the moment He passed into spirit life 
the effects of his physical wounds were a thing of the 
past. 

Let me also ask Mr. Brisbane if he really believes that 
by destroying the body of Joan of Arc, at the stake, her 



84 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

spirit has been afflicted, even though her death was the 
result of indescribable torture, and her body had been 
previously twisted and torn? On May 23rd, 1920, the 
Catholic Church canonized her, made her a Saint. She 
is therefore, now able to FORGIVE the sins of the Cath- 
olic people, according to their belief. Yet, Mr. Brisbane 
would have us believe that Joan of Arc was not affected 
by the same law, when she passed over the line, as that 
he selects for the spirit of Dr. Hyslop. 

According to the statement, we can only infer that 
Dr. Hyslop will not be allowed to speak to friends on 
earth (from the other sphere), because Mr. Brisbane as- 
sumes that certain cells were not functioning in his 
brain. To what place would he assign the spirit of Joan 
of Arc who was burned at the stake? Why should he 
specially grant HER the privilege of coming back "to 
save the souls of millions of Catholics in the world," and 
deny Dr. Hyslop the privilege of even coming back to 
visit his own personal friends? There seems here to 
be a lack of justice — the gentleman discriminates — and 
yet we are told God is no respector of persons. 

In another of the Brisbane columns about Joan of Arc 
he said: "She died very bravely, declaring that THE 
VOICES THAT LED HER TO SAVE FRANCE HAD 
NOT DECEIVED HER, AND WITH THE NAME 
OF JESUS THE LAST WORD ON HER LIPS." He 
here gives a definite admission of spirit voices. Thou- 
sands of persons in the world hear voices in precisely 
the same way ; why doubt that they are just as sincere as 
was Joan of Arc ? We may, in all charity, believe, that, 
without regard to sect or creed, many of them would 
die for Truth in the same noble way in which she did. 
Mr. Brisbane claims, strangely enough, that Joan of Arc 
HEARD voices, but absolutely denies that we are per- 
mitted to hear voices today. 

Again he says: "Some object to cremation on the 
ground that it destroys individuality; — IT HAS NOT 
DESTROYED JOAN OF ARC'S INDIVIDUALITY. 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 85 

She was burned, her ashes were thrown into the River 
Seine, and by this time have probably been washed into 
the English Channel, and out into the Atlantic Ocean. " 
Brisbane professes to think differently about the post- 
mortem conditions of Dr. Hyslop. Because HE was a 
Spiritualist he must not be allowed to even communi- 
cate with his friends here on earth. Joan of Arc was 
undoubtedly spiritual, and the records of her life and 
death prove her to have been one of the greatest spir- 
itual mediums who ever lived on this earth. 

Mr. Brisbane then turns his theories to another factor 
of belief and says: "Many have attempted through 
philosophical reasoning, EMPLOYMENT OF MEDI- 
UMS, etc., to actuallv prove immortal life. But proof 
there is not! TRICKS OR SINCERE DECEPTION 
OF THE MEDIUMS AND OTHER SPIRITUALISTS 
ARE BENEATH THE CONTEMPT OF A FIVE- 
YEAR-OLD CHILD." That is exactly what they said 
about Joan of Arc nearly five hundred years ago when 
they burned her at the stake for asserting that she 
heard voices. Now they make her a Saint and tacitly 
admit the church of that day was wrong! 

Four hundred years from now they will possibly be 
erecting monuments to those truly sincere mediums who 
have steered the Ship of Truth through the storm waves 
and verbal tempests ; the windy discourses and harmless 
thunderings of pertinent preachers, such as the church 
is now seeking to brew against Spiritualism. One age 
revokes what the other age professed. "God moves in a 
mysterious way His wonders to perform," is true in- 
deed. Mr. Brisbane objected to any reference, and to 
the words "Roman Catholic" in press reports of the 
Irish troubles, and in so doing said : "It would be bet- 
ter if those words could be left out." Strangely enough 
he can, if it will support his contentions, profess to be 
impartial and whilst using the terms ' ' Spiritualist ' ' and 
"Spiritualism" in his own columns, with the apparent 
intention of leading others to believe that all Spiritualists 



86 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

are either importers or self-deceived, and so misled by 
others that they are crazy; — the victims of evil spirits 
who are controlled by the Devil. He uses his columns as 
a means of attacking Spiritualism without compunction. 
But even though he is reputed to be one of the highest 
paid editorial writers in the world, his pen cannot pre- 
vent the great search for Truth now prevalent through- 
out the world. 

Spiritualism is a religion to bring comfort to the 
weary soul. It teaches the Christ promises of a God of 
Love and Justice. Time for redemption in this life; or 
it may be after this life. Not such teachings as we find 
in the following passage, which is taken from the Pres- 
byterian Confession of Faith: "The bodies of men 
after death return to dust and see corruption ; but their 
souls (which neither die or sleep), having an immortal 
subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. 
The souls of the righteous, then, being made perfect in 
holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where 
they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting 
for the full redemption of their bodies; AND THE 
SOULS OF THE WICKED ARE CAST INTO HELL, 
WHERE THEY REMAIN IN TORMENT AND UT- 
TER DARKNESS RESERVED TO THE JUDGMENT 
OF THE GREAT DAY." 

The Christian Herald, published weekly during the 
life of Charles Spurgeon, the sermons of the great Bap- 
tist minister. I quote from his published sermon on "The 
Resurrection of the Dead," the following extract: 
"When thou diest, thy soul will be tormented alone, 
that will be a hell for it; but at the day of judgment 
thy body will join thy soul and then thou wilt have twin 
hells, THY SOUL SWEATING DROPS OF BLOOD, 
AND THY BODY SUFFUSED WITH AGONY, IN 
FIRE EXACTLY LIKE THAT WHICH WE HAVE 
ON EARTH, THY BODY WILL LIE, ASBESTOS- 
LIKE, FOREVER UNCONSUMED, ALL THY 
VEINS, ROADS FOR THE FEET OF PAIN TO 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 87 

TRAVEL ON, EVERY NERVE A STRING ON 
WHICH THE DEVIL SHALL PLAY FOREVER HIS 
DIABOLICAL TUNE OF HELL'S UNUTTERABLE 
LAMENT." No comfort in this! No encouragement! 
No promise of merc}^ ! Pure Diabolism. Pure Terror- 
ism. 

Just one more of those wild teachings of their views, 
as expressed by the acknowledgment of sectarianism — 
the accepted ''Dogma Defenders." 

The following is taken from the "Works of Samuel 
Hopkins," D. D. (pages 457 and 458) : "The smoke of 
their torment shall ascend up in the sight of the blessed 
forever, and serve as a most clear glass always before 
their eyes to give then a constant, bright, and most af- 
fecting view," — "This display of the Divine character 
and glory will be in favor of the redeemed, and most 
entertaining, and give the highest pleasure to those who 
love God, and raise their happiness to ineffable heights. 
Should this eternal punishment and this fire be extin- 
guished, it would in a great measure obscure the light 
of heaven and put an end to a great part of the happi- 
ness and glory of the blessed." In other words — those 
who go to Heaven will delight in witnessing the agony 
of their kith and kin who are not found worthy to at- 
tain to their bliss. 

"We should surely rejoice that there are only a few 
of these religious terrorists left. With the exception of 
such "Hell-Fire" evangelists as Mr. Billy Sunday and 
Dr. Torry, there are few ministers who would care to 
preach such illogical, materialistic, un-Christian, medie- 
val and dark-age stuff to intelligent men and women. 
Preachers today have a hard enough time trying to fill 
their churches, although they omit such teachings. 

To obtain crowds, some of our great preachers resort 
to vaudeville, or advertise that — "next Sunday a regi- 
mental band will render a few selections," — "a great 
whistler will perform"; "the Famous Jubilee Singers 
will sing plantation songs," or "a Grand Opera star 



88 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

will sing"; or ''Cunning, the great Magician, will ex- 
pose Spiritualism"; or some other attractive morsel will 
be presented, as the piece-de-resistance of the church 
service. Several of the advertised subjects here in Los 
Angeles were "Bringing Up Father," "Keeping Up 
With Lizzie," and "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have 
You Been"? 

Some reader may be inclined to think that I have 
been hasty in forming my opinion that the majority 
of the ministers of religion are absolutely opposed to 
practicing the Scriptural and Apostolic request, "Come, 
let us reason together," or the injunctions to "Seek and 
ye shall find," or "Prove all things." To avoid mis- 
conception I arranged for letters to be sent to some of 
the prominent ministers of Los Angeles; in case they 
had misunderstood former letters, or my object in writ- 
ing them. The following were the representative min- 
isters to whom I wrote : Rev. J. A. Eby, Presbyterian ; 
Dr. Carl S. Patton, Congregational; Rev. J. A. Francis, 
Baptist; Rev. Edgar Fay Daugherty, First Christian; 
and other letters, referred to in the earlier chapters of 
this book, to Dr. Charles Edward Locke, Methodist ; Dr. 
J. Whitcomb Brougher, Baptist ; Rev. Dr. Wm. G. Mills, 
Presbyterian ; — also to a Roman Catholic Priest ; a Chris- 
tian Scientist extracts from my letter follow: 

"Dear Brother: I am writing you this letter after 
reading your statement in the daily paper regarding the 
question, 'Life After Death.' I would be pleased to 
have you answer the following questions, if you can do 
so graciously. Would you be willing to go where you 
could see real, genuine materialization? where you can 
see, and touch spirit hands; and this with the electric 
lights on. Will you go if you believe this to be genu- 
ine? This is in a private home where the investigators 
are privately invited, and no money asked. Would you 
be willing to go to the ' Francis Church of Truth, ' where 
you can see the reading of articles by the Science of 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 89 

Psychoruetiy ? I am the President of the church, and 
enclose a card for your information. This phase of phe- 
nomena is presented publicly every Sunday and Tues- 
day evening during our service, and with the lights on. 
Would you be willing to investigate privately with our 
pastor, Rev. George Francis, who was an orthodox min- 
ister for many years? If these things are of interest I 
shall be glad to hear from you." Cordially yours, 
James McGregor Beatty." All the letters were practically 
similar, and take note of this fact— I RECEIVED BUT 
ONE ANSWER— it was from Dr. Carl S. Patton, of the 
First Congregational Church of Los Angeles. His let- 
ter was a revelation to me ; and I want it to go on rec- 
ord that I honour one orthodox preacher who has the 
courage of his convictions; his answer was gentlemanly, 
tolerant, and truthful; it contained the very essence of 
Christian friendship, a virtue apparently lacking in 
some of the preachers I addressed. His letter was short, 
but is not published herewith, for it was sincere in tenor 
and couched in a manly spirit, — even though there is 
no suggestion that Dr. Patton was in such harmony with 
Spiritualistic doctrines as to enter into an active in- 
vestigation thereof. Several talks over the telephone 
with this gentleman created a friendly desire to know, 
and to come into closer vibration with him, which I hope 
yet to do. 

I wish to direct attention to the fact that I am not 
personally antagonistic to any clergyman, simply be- 
cause we differ in opinion. If any preacher feels it in- 
cumbent on him to teach that " spirits cannot communi- 
cate," from his own conviction (after investigation), it 
is then his duty to do so, and I respect him ! If he does 
not believe that they can or do, and preaches accordingly 
to his congregation; and gives prayerful effect to the 
light, so far as it is given to him, that 's his business ! 
However, when any preacher preaches as an incontro- 
vertible fact, that they do not and cannot communi- 
cate, without personal, evidential knowledge; or influ- 



90 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

ences his hearers by such a statement as "if they do, it's 
of the Devil," — then I contend that he is not justified, 
or fulfilling his mission of leading people to a knowl- 
edge of God, based upon the life and teachings of Christ. 
It is a matter of personal opinion, or theological bias, and 
he is no more fit to teach them, than he would be if he 
told his hearers that Astronomy, the Wireless, or Chem- 
istry were of the devil, and taught (as in the olden days) 
that it was contrary to the Will of God, for humanity to 
scientifically study them ; or explained the unrecognized 
laws of nature to suit their individual views, just be- 
cause they were Baptists, Presbyterians, or Methodists. 

One of the greatest errors, made by the opponents of 
Spiritualism, is, the belief that only foolish messages 
come from the so-called spirits of the dead. That is a 
grave mistake and only stands as absolute evidence of 
ignorance of the subject. To dispel this fallacy — and 
there are many who receive communications in this way 
— I have asked permission to present to my readers a 
few messages which came through the automatic writ- 
ing of a gentleman who has never affiliated with the 
Spiritualist churches, an independent man, not a me- 
dium and who is now living in Los Angeles; this re- 
quest was kindly granted, and they appear here in print 
for the first time. 

Many hours spent alone with this scientific student 
and investigator has proven to me that he is no doubt 
an advanced soul, and I have personally chosen the fol- 
lowing from enough dictated writings to fill a volume; 
these came from spirit spheres to earth just as genuinely 
and surely as did any prophetic writings to the prophets 
of old. They come in different handwritings, according 
to the source, and are very different from his own hand- 
writing ; I am predicting that all of his wonderful spir- 
itual writings (for he receives no material messages) 
will be very valuable to the world, when he has, himself, 
passed to spirit realms. Read them carefully and judge 
whether they are of an inconsequential nature. 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 91 

I am in possession of many of the original manu- 
scripts; have seen them written; I will be glad to pro- 
duce them for examination of the truly sincere student 
or investigator. I also possess information regarding 
this gentleman's busy life, which has included an ex- 
tensive study of many branches in science and art, with 
business and civic experience in many parts of the 
world. I here present the following writings of Dr. C. 
H. Stuart-Wade, J. P., F. R. G. S., F. R. H. S., and 
many other learned and scientific organizations of 
Europe and America. 

''Doubt not that the mist called Death can be passed 
through by those who have gone through many lives 
and received knowledge and power to know of things 
that exist beyond the realms of earth science. The time 
cometh ere long when much that is dark shall be brought 
to light and that which is hidden be revealed to the 
searchers after truth. Few indeed are they who seek 
from spiritual desire ; therefore be not misled by all who 
profess to. speak with the world beyond. By their truth 
thou shalt recognize their claim, for there be many false 
spirits abroad, as was foretold, who will try to win away 
from the desire to seek knowledge of that which com- 
eth from the spiritual spheres. ' ' 

"Make thy life on earth happy by kindness and love 
to all God's created beings; for, as ye do on the Sorrow- 
ful Star, so shall ye reap in the Spirit life. For the 
deeds of the mortal shall bear fruit for life happiness, 
or for death mortification and remorse, when the mortal 
puts off the material cloak. It is for each one to choose. 
Mortal life is part of the great scheme of the Creator. 
None who seek shall be lost eternally. Time on earth 
well spent is God's training for future bliss. Trust in 
God's power bringeth all good in the brighter worlds 
to come. Those only shall pass to spirit plane who have 
overcome selfishness, rendered good for evil; overcome 
their angry passions; rendered help and comfort to the 
sick, needy, and heavy-hearted; loved their fellow-man 



92 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

with the Christ love, and sought His help by prayer and 
thoughtful study of their own faults " 

1 ' There be those on earth who wilfully refuse to accept 
knowledge or instruction. The Christ truly said many 
are called, but few indeed are they who answer the call. 
It has ever been thus. LIGHT conies from above, but 
the child of earth will not open the eye of the soul to 
receive; and so the opportunity of an incarnation is 
lost. Let not thy soul be troubled for thy duty has been 
fulfilled. Carry thy message elsewhere. Let not thy 
heart be disheartened by thy apparent failure. Go thy 
way, for thou shalt not waste any strength on barren 
soil. Material is the heart; selfishness dominates. In- 
terest is only subservient to the passions that ages ago 
led cruelty, arrogance, pride and utter indifference to 
human pain to rule life. Hold thou the power thou now 
hast, and by God's providence a brief space of silent 
thought may bring a full realization of this truth." 

"By faith, and hope, and love of his fellow shall the 
searcher after truth learn the Will of the Great Giver of 
all things. By Faith ye shall learn that He guideth all 
thy ways; that He through His ministers on Earth as 
in heaven — for heaven is everywhere, if ye will make 
it so — guideth all things in harmony though humanity 
cannot recognize his power in all things. Hope is in 
every body; — the desire to learn; — the desire to know, 
and to teach that which is given to thee, is the visible 
expression of the hope that, by knowledge, ye shall be 
the better able to ask higher gifts from Him who is ever 
able to give to those who seek THAT WHICH IS OF 
A SPIRITUAL NATURE and a benefit to them or 
others. LOVE is the truest form of God's gifts, for by 
it ye can forgive; ye can look with charity on the fail- 
ures of the weak. BY IT CHRIST 'S TEACHINGS ARE 
SHOWN TO THY WORLD AS REALITIES ; for, as 
ye love one another so shall ye act toward all men and 
tread the path He passed, until the desires of earth life 
be ended; and thou begin to learn that true love alone 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 93 

"Unless the mind learn to know itself, the truth shall 
can bring created beings to a knowledge of the Divine 
Revelation on the earth." 

not be revealed. Instructors are sent only to those who 
are faithful and themselves are seeking knowledge. 
There are spirits on earth who have returned of their 
own desire to aid the weary-hearted, to strengthen the 
weak, to help the doubters, and by their knowledge of 
the higher spheres, they are able to plant the seed of 
future life and Love; to water it, with their love and 
to bring forth good desires. The returning spirits of 
Light are but few comparatively; the astral many, and 
of the earth plane — purely material. Be not fearful 
in the mortal body. Even the Christ suffered for mor- 
tal thought. Know that the earth-born denying to one 
another those rights granted by God to his children — 
which are love of one another, justice, chastity, honour, 
truth, trust, forgiveness, integrity, together with those 
taught by Jesus on earth, — shall in no wise obtain the 
happiness and joy in the life beyond. They shall suffer 
the like manner as they have made others suffer, in in- 
tensity of degree. As ye mete to one another — the same 
treatment will be the punishment. For as ye do to oth- 
ers in the earth world, so shall it be done unto thee in 
the world thou shall pass to." 

"Let flow the depths of love, charity, sympathy, and 
thou shalt the more fully realize the Christ teachings. 
Teach compassion, humility, love, purity, Divine truth; 
and with living fire combat pride, selfishness, jealousy, 
prejudice, ritual, and false doctrines. Arise and work. 
Forgive those who have offended thee as ye seek for- 
giveness; so shall power be given thee., When things 
are as bad as they can be — fear not, but try to realize 
that God's surgery is probing the cancerous growth — 
and life everlasting will be the final result. As the soul 
approaches liberty, so shall the knowledge of truth, and 
the fitness of futurity become apparent to thee." 



94 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

"Life on earth is love and hope, patience or despair, 
doubt or trust. Ye who live on the Sorrowful Star rest 
in ignorance, few even knowing the longings of the Soul. 
Life beyond is really leading up to an eternal life. One 
of that activity and harmony, which promotes peace and 
happiness. A loss of the material or bodily selfishness 
— the Christ expression of "Love thy neighbor as thy- 
self." Learn to know thyself — strive to spread Love 
and happiness; help the weary-hearted, the doubter, the 
thoughtless, the searcher after truth." 

"Ignorant or willful error must be purged, by sor- 
row and penitence, ere the spirit pass to the spiritual 
sphere. Christ said, Many are called, but few achieve 
the perfection necessary. Life is but a breath, a garden 
in which the soul shall grow until God calls it to end- 
less bliss. It is not God who punishes humanity. The 
individual who neglects his or her duty to God, to his 
family, and to his brothers and sisters in the world, is 
preparing his own punishment in futurity. The seed 
sown shall bring forth the fruit, or the weeds; and the 
sower shall himself reap what was sown, be it good or 
evil; after the body has passed hence comes the harvest 
of a life, and not until the transition is passed — and its 
self -punishment inflicted — shall rebirth open the way 
to a new opportunity to move anew on the path to the 
higher spheres. Happy the one who moves onward from 
the material to the spiritual. He or she is truly 'born 
again ! ' but bitter indeed are the dregs drunk by the 
willful hearted and the unbelievers, who fail to learn the 
lessons self taught. Happy indeed is the mortal who 
shall love his brother as himself." 

"Let the Light of the Sun shine forth in thy aura; 
let thy brain, soul and body center on the highest spheres, 
and live only for others. Ever keeping the spiritual 
power of thy mortal body gazing out, and throwing its 
vibrations upward to the throne of light. There is no 
God-designed punishment for sins committed in earth 
life. God is not of the low, earthly mind that desires 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 95 

revenge. Even spirits may not realize in full the pure 
divinity of the Creator ; how then can Humanity ? Sin 
brings its own remembrance when body and soul sep- 
arate.: then, the Soul realizes its imperfections. It knows 
itself in reality, and by its own God-given power of 
knowledge, passes judgment on its own past sins. The 
body-soul seeks to weigh, in the scales of a Divine jus- 
tice, its failures and its successes in the life past ; and, 
to put it as human mind would express it, — sin provides 
its own punishment, and impels the spirit passed over 
to seek its place of rest, retribution, punishment, or plane 
of advancement (according to its decision — arrived at by 
strict, impartial justice — evolved through a knowledge 
of willful failure and neglect, or lack of experience, and 
desire for good), in that state where progress will be 
made." 

"Thoughts are flowers abud. A thought springs in 
the mind. A seed has been sown, the plant has grown. 
The bud is formed unseen, even as the thought. We 
know not what the bud will produce. It is rounded and 
colorless. The thought is formless. The bud changes 
and the vibrations of color harmonize and blend, the 
petals unfold. The perfume spreads abroad and the at- 
mosphere receives and carries it even as the thought is 
carried far and wide. The flower grows in beauty, fra- 
grace and strength. So the good that is spread 
abroad aids spirit forms to carry it to the hearts of 
those who need comfort, and the emanations of your 
brain fulfill the duty which you were destined by the 
Almighty Creator of all things to fill. Thought is a 
bud, a flower, a sweet smelling sacrifice." 

"There be human beings that know not their own 
minds; variable as the smoke you see; such need Soul 
Surgery and bodily agony to come to realize their own 
need of submitting themselves to spirit guidance, in Faith 
as well as in mere words. A sorrow sent is God 's method 
of teaching that mankind is not sufficient in its own lit- 
tle plane of existence, to control even its own affairs. 



96 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

How then can it control self unless aid is sought from the 
messengers of God — the ministers of the spirit worlds — 
those who watch and bear the petitions to the One Father 
of All. From little events great results may follow. A 
thought ; a word ; a look ; a sneer ; it may be nothing said, 
and yet the moment of redemption passes for ages of 
time. A wearisome, rocky road once again to be trav- 
eled; and a waiting and watching of those seeking re- 
lease in the lands ye know not of. ' ' 

"Will, is the power above all others; for, by His will 
the Creator established and maintains all things. Will, 
in Faith, and ye shall succeed. 

"What is inspired by good, must come from good, if 
carried out by that intention alone. 

"God has set down laws of Nature, of which ye know 
nothing in reality; these followed, in the desire for 
truth, must be for good. 

"All things in nature are associated in the chain of 
God's laws; they are interwoven with material and 
spiritual life. 

"Mankind can never comprehend, with his limited 
powers of mind, the things which are within his ability 
to control in the realms of nature, if he is of the earth 
plane, and dominated by the desires of the material 
body." 

"The wind bloweth and yet know not whence it com- 
eth, but God knows and guides it. He sendeth it forth 
to do good for mankind. The flowers bloom and shed 
their fragrance on the air, but how they are made ye 
know not. The colors are formed by His Almighty 
power, and ye see through them some of the beauties of 
the worlds beyond, though the colors ye can see by mor- 
tal eye are nothing to those which exist in the life eternal. 
May His spirit flow into your heart, and shower the 
beauties of worlds unseen upon you this night." 

"In this sphere we are mostly students, and the 
teachers from above come and instruct us (even as we 
instruct, as far as we are able), to influence those who 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 97 

are selected to pass on our messages, to those who seek 
Truth in the Sorrowful Star. Ye are not yet showing 
what thou art best fitted for; but fear not, as thou fol- 
lowest the advice sent out to thee, through our minis- 
er, and the thought vibrations which come to thee from 
time to time, so shall ye develop in spiritual and also 
in the loving attribute of attraction: The time is not 
distant, when it shall be shown thee what line of work 
thou are called upon to perform. There is much yet to 
come, and we will endeavor to teach thee soon, as to the 
work in the Astral plane (in the class which thou and 
we are holding simultaneously) so that ye may learn 
what to avoid; and the students here, learn how best 
to help those in earth life who seek knowledge ; and also, 
to send out the threads which float in the Astral plane, 
(like spider webs) so that those who are longing for the 
Light, may have the opportunity of hanging thereon, 
and being drawn up." 

"We have lived also, and longed to know more of the 
life beyond. Happy art thou, in being permitted to 
know the little shown to thee. Thy life is, and has been, 
one of help to the sick and distressed. Knowledge grows 
in thee, and the vibrations sent thee are to prove that life 
continues ; and that God performs His works in way we 
cannot understand — but which ye cannot help but be- 
lieve. Let joy and happiness shine from thy counte- 
nance. Let thine eyes be like the bright sun pouring 
forth love and sweetness on all surrounding thee. Dis- 
pel all gloom, for that attracts the evil spirits, who dare 
not approach where the light of heavenly spirts control. 
Be happy thyself; bestow happiness; as thy guardians 
seek ever to bestow it upon thee, even though the trials 
of life be many." 

"Happiness cannot be found on earth. Be content 
with that given thee, and see that thou use it well, so 
that what ye have may be shared with those who have 
less than thyself. So shall ye use your talent, and it 



98 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

shall bring forth a rich reward to thee in thy life to 
come.' ' 

" Realize the Truth of what comes to thy ministering 
guide on earth. His work is to point out the way to thy 
happiness now, and through the ages yet to pass. As- 
sist him by all means in thy power, so that he and our- 
selves may come to thee and help thee to reach Home. 
Trust to thy own promptings for thou art realizing past 
errors. Seek to make thy mind and heart available to our 
guidance and recognize the truth that we can communi- 
cate and that we love thee well. Foster all noble inclina- 
tions, affections, and sentiments. Let your aspirations 
be of the highest and so fit yourselves that when this 
life ends, ye may be able to rejoin those who have gone 
before and are preparing the home which thou hast al- 
ready begun to build in the Summerland. ' ' 

" Spirits are constantly teaching you by the thoughts 
they implant. If ye understand not, ask thy guide to 
tell thee. Let your soul body go forth to seek the Light 
— the First Cause — the Source of Love and Creation. 
Let it go forth pure and ready to learn. Let your 
thoughts be refined by the fires of Spirit thought, so that 
ye may be fit to go with those who shall meet you and 
go with you on the pathway ye shall traverse toward 
the abode of those who are in the spirit realms. Realize 
that anything done in life that is contrary to the physi- 
cal laws of God will cause ye to suffer in body, and that 
the penalty of neglect to fulfill the laws he has made to 
govern the Universe, and all that therein is, shall also 
bring its own punishment. Develop thy intellect. Be 
not troubled by the ills of earth. Let thy nature seek 
affinity with the radiant beings of the upper spheres. 
So shalt thou see them and walk with them in the realms 
ye are unable to see until thy spiritual eyes be permitted 
to open and behold in all splendor.' ' 

' ' Everybody that the Divine One has placed in any of 
His worlds contains somewhat of the Divinity himself. 
What you call Spirit. If he be Divine and ever living, 



Hell Fire Is Not Literal 99 

that which, he sent into the material may live, for it 
cannot perish. Therefore, when the most wicked pass 
from life, they are given a chance to live and learn and 
work out the regeneration of soul until the spirit is 
freed from evil and fitted to return to Him who gave it 
life." 

' ' No longer canst thou sow the seeds in a material gar- 
den, but in doing so in the past thou hast been learning 
of God's plan and that the laws of nature are all in 
harmony and beauty, and mean life and light to come. 
Natural laws cannot be broken without suffering! The 
harmonious relations of life are like the strings of an in- 
strument, sweet and vibrant to soul ond body, when in 
accord with the music of the heavenly spheres. Let but 
a cord be unstrung by doubt, fear, unbelief, selfishness 
or distrust and nature's laws are broken! life is threat- 
ened in the body and the soul spirit is unable to react or 
control the mental portion of the human body by reason 
of the physical tension. Hence, obey nature's laws 
and let health of body prepare thy heart and mind and 
soul to put on the radiant effulgence that is to shine 
through the fleshly covering and reveal to mankind the 
sunshine of the brighter realms working unseen there- 
in." 

''Youth understands not that they are but a link in a 
chain. Not individually of moment in the world, but an 
atom of dust that must link itself with other atoms of 
humanity to fulfill the laws of Nature's God. Teach, 
therefore, that a lad, or a man, is responsible, person- 
ally, for his development of those faculties bestowed 
upon him, not merely to himself, but to .those who 
brought him into the world in the first place, then to 
those who are brought into association with him ; through 
them, his moral tendencies, his truthfulness ,thoughtful 
unselfishness, self-sacrifice it may be, his obedience in all 
things, develop harmony, efficiency, loving thoughts, and 
a kindly disposition that gives him self respect and power 



100 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

for good in the world. He becomes a strong link in God's 
chain of training to that personal responsibility that 
leads to understanding that he is vital to the good of 
mankind and a trustee to carry out the will of the Di- 
vine Creator." 

•5 ™ ™ 

ONE DOZEN POINTED PITHY PARAGRAPHS 

Do you BELIEVE in a revengeful God?— I KNOW 
a Loving One! 

Do you BELIEVE in a literal burning Hell? There 
is no such place. 

Do you BELIEVE God made a Devil to punish man ? 
The Church developed the Devil. 

Do you BELIEVE in Infant Damnation? Christ 
taught the opposite. 

Do you BELIEVE in the shedding of Blood? That 
is Paganism revived. 

Do you BELIEVE that Dead Bodies shall rise again ? 
Not the body physical. 

Do you BELIEVE God's tongue is tied? God is 
Omnipotent. 

Do you BELIEVE in Right-doing — just for a reward ? 
That is Selfishness. 

Do you BELIEVE in Justice because it is God's at- 
tribute? That is manly. 

Do you BELIEVE in the Brotherhood of Man? That 
is Christian and true. 

Do you BELIEVE that a just God would cause the 
"Fall of Man?" That is unjust. 

Do you BELIEVE that the Church of today prac- 
tices True Christianity? It does not. 



SPIRITUALISM IS NOT OF THE DEVIL 

^£=|ft3 CERTAIN class of church folks still go on with 
jy ||/' the cry that Spiritualism is the deceiving 
JJKCliH POWER OF THE DEVIL ; they quote the Bib- 
lical reference to the "Woman of Endor, and conclude by 
saying that it is wicked to communicate; they want to 
let it go, and rest satisfied at that ! But such people 
seem to ignore the most important fact, and that is — 
that SAMUEL TOLD THE TRUTH TO KING SAUL 
ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF HIS KINGDOM, 
AND TOLD ABOUT THE DEATH ON THE MOR- 
ROW, OF HIMSELF AND HIS SONS; ALSO THE 
DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL INTO THE HANDS 
OF THE PHILISTINES. 

The Bible says that Samuel also told Saul, ''Tomor- 
row shalt thou and thy sons be with me!" Is not this 
proof, by Biblical words, that we CAN actually com- 
municate with the dead? That the spirit form of 
Samuel told the truth to the bodily Saul; it follows 
naturally, that if as recorded, Saul and his sons were 
dead to earth matters, or with Samuel the next day in 
the spirit world, then Samuel was not inert in the grave 
and unconscious, as the orthodox church would have us 
believe, but that a spiritual Samuel was alive some- 
where; a thinking, conscious entity, able to come back 
and remind Saul that he had disobeyed God's commands, 
and give him knowledge (a test), that he was to die, 
with his sons, the next day! According to the Bible, 
THE SPIRIT MESSAGE PROVED TRUE. 

Up to this time there had been no so-called Resurrec- 
tion Day, yet Samuel was conscious, and evidently knew 

[101] 



102 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

what Saul was doing on the earth plane. "Wake up, you 
orthodox folks, and get your brain box working. Now, 
let us assume, just for example, that Spiritualism is 
wrong de facto; and that evil influences only can re- 
turn; that the whole thing is produced by the power of 
the Devil. Let's consider just what the Devil is! 
D — evil spells Devil, and God is equivalent to Good! 
To a reasoning man that just represents the positive 
and negative powers of the Universe, and they are 
Nature's Laws, and indispensable to the operation of 
this universe. There must be apparently good and bad, 
heat and cold, summer and winter, thick and thin, long 
and short, darkness and light; just as there must be 
two ends to a pole. Light would not be appreciated 
without darkness, nor the summer sun without winter. 
There would be no exquisite pleasure without temporary 
pain. Harmony is rarely appreciated without the pos- 
sibility of discord. No joy is greater than that after 
sorrow. Neither is there realization of Good without 
Evil (or THE D-E-V-I-L). Good, would not be a 
realism without the evidence of Evil. 

Being that the Orthodox church claims the Holy Bible 
to be the absolute infallible Word of God, then let us 
study that Book on the subject of the POWER OF THE 
DEVIL, in any reference it may have to Spiritualism. 
In Numbers; 12:6, we read, "And he said, hear now my 
word. If there be a Prophet among you, I, the Lord, 
will make myself known unto him in a VISION, and 
will speak unto him in A DREAM. ' ' Now, if our Ortho- 
dox friends really believe their Bible is infallible, we 
have here the Lord's own promise that He would com- 
municate; then, our Orthodox friends, to be logical, 
must consider that God is an Evil Spirit. Either that 
is a fact, or their Bible is not infallible. 

Judges, 9:23. "Then God sent AN EVIL SPIRIT 
BETWEEN ABIMELECH AND THE MEN OF 
SHECHEM, AND THE MEN OF SHECHEM DEALT 
TREACHEROUSLY WITH ABIMELECH." 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 103 

1st Samuel, 16; 14 and 16: "But the SPIRIT OF 
THE LORD departed from Saul/' AND AN EVIL 
SPIRIT FROM THE LORD TROUBLED HIM. "And 
Saul's servants said unto him, "Behold now AN EVIL 
SPIRIT FROM GOD TROUBLETH THEE.". . . 

1st Samuel, 16 :23 : "And it came to pass WHEN THE 
EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD WAS UPON SAUL, that 
David took a harp and played with his hand, so Saul 
was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed 
from him." 

1st Samuel, 18:10: "And it came to pass on the 
morrow, "THAT THE EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD 
CAME UPON SAUL AND HE PROPHESIED IN 
THE MIDST OF THE HOUSE." 

1st Samuel, 19:19: "AND THE EVIL SPIRIT 
FROM THE LORD WAS UPON SAUL AS HE SAT 
IN HIS HOUSE WITH HIS JAVELIN IN HIS 
HAND." 

Isaiah 45 ; 5, 6 and 7 : "I am the LORD, and there is 
none else. There is no God beside me. I AM THE 
LORD AND THERE IS NONE ELSE. I FORM THE 
LIGHT AND CREATE DARKNESS. I MAKE 
PEACE AND CREATE EVIL; I, THE LORD, DO 
ALL THESE THINGS." 

1st Kings, 22:23: "Now, therefore, behold THE 
LORD HATH PUT A LYING SPIRIT IN THE 
MOUTH OF ALL THY PROPHETS, AND THE 
LORD HATH SPOKEN EVIL CONCERNING 
THEE." 1st Chronicles, 21, 15 : "AND GOD SENT 
AN ANGEL TO JERUSALEM TO DESTROY IT." 

And in the New Testament, 1st John, 4-1, we read: 
"Beloved, believe not every Spirit, BUT TRY THE 
SPIRITS WHETHER THEY ARE OF GOD; BE- 
CAUSE MANY FALSE PROPHETS HAVE GONE 
OUT INTO THE WORLD." Hebrews 1-14: "ARE 
THEY NOT ALL MINISTERING SPIRITS, SENT 
FORTH TO MINISTER FOR THEM THAT SHALL 
BE HEIRS OF SALVATION?" 



104 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

Therefore, if the Bible be true and infallible, it would 
appear that EVIL SPIRITS ARE FROM GOD, so 
why should they question this phase of Spiritualism? 
We are justified in assuming that if God be omnipotent, 
and does not make any mistakes, he sends the evil spirits 
back to fulfill some good purpose. Such a good purpose 
would apparently be to have spirits of Orthodox church 
members come back, communicate with their earth 
friends and give them the proof that they live, and are 
not asleep awaiting Gabriel's blast of the trumpet on 
the Resurrection Morn. And get this point, they must 
also admit that if only evil spirits can come back, then 
by their own Bible account, Samuel came back spe- 
cially to tell the truth to King Saul. He also gave him 
a ' ' spirit test ' ' that came true the very next day, though 
they insist that an evil spirit cannot tell the truth. If 
the account is correct then, Samuel must have been evil, 
because he came back; or, if the apparition was a good 
spirit, then both good and bad spirits can communicate 
with the living in this world, and give them true tests. 
If this is not true, then the Bible IS NOT AS INFAL- 
LIBLE as the theologians claim. 

It is probable that some persons may think I am mis- 
taken, when I say that there are preachers all over the 
land who are spreading these untruths broadcast. It is a 
hard matter to realize, just how they deduce their opin- 
ions, but read their own words : Judge Rutherford, the 
successor to Pastor Russell, of the Bible Students' Asso- 
ciation, said: "Demons in the atmosphere near the 
earth, and not the Spirits of the dead, are behind this 
wave of Spiritualism now spreading over the country. 
It is true that Mediums hear voices delivering messages 
to them, and see visions ; and there is automatic writing, 
but it is not the spirits of the dead ! The dead are dead, 
and therefore cannot talk until resurrection! They are 
asleep, and have no consciousness. Spiritualism is the 
Devil's own faith." This is merely Judge Rutherford's 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 105 

personal opinion. He has no basis for laying down such 
an emphatic assertion. 

Arthur Brisbane writes the following about Spirit- 
ualism: "All the nonsense of Spiritualism, preying on 
the pitiful longings of weak or tired minds, have not 
produced the value of a two-cent stamp, and never will ! 
If the dead could talk after the interesting experiment 
of dying, they would send better messages back than 
'Mamma is happy. It is lovely over here. Love to 
Willie. ' " 

According to the Right Reverend James McGean, of 
the Church of St. Peter, of New York City, "Table 
Tippings, Ouija Board demonstrations and all other spir- 
itualistic seances are forbidden to Catholics. ' ' The Rev. 
Alexis Cuneen, in a sermon in the same church, places 
Spiritualism and devil worship in the same category. If 
this be true, they should be careful not to advertise the 
fact, for Peter, one of the beloved disciples of Jesus, and 
the rock upon which the Catholic Church claims it is 
built, was what the people of today call a medium, and 
talked with spirits ; the proof of which I have quoted in 
full from the ' ' Catholic ' ' Bible, on a preceding page. 

If it had not been for "the foolishness of Spiritual- 
ism" (as Mr. Brisbane calls it), and for the Apostle 
Peter's psychic ability, there would not have been a 
foundation on which the Catholic heirarchy could place 
their rock. Had Mr. Brisbane been writing editorials 
at that time, he would have advised Peter to give some- 
thing better than the nonsense about "Kill and Eat." 
But beyond all question the Scientific fact remains, — 
that communication with the spirit world is true ! Would 
the Saints have knowledge of conditions, or know how 
or when to forgive sins if there was not some form of 
actual communication? For they claim there has been 
no Resurrection Morn as yet. Mr. Brisbane, however, 
comes out with the cry that ' ' All the nonsense of Spir- 
itualism has not produced the value of a two cent stamp 
and never will." In spite of his dogmatic statement, 



106 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

Spiritualism possesses a vitality that will go on teaching 
(and proving) that actual communication with "those 
beyond, ' ' is possible, just as the Catholic Church teaches. 

Now comes Dr. J. A. Gaughey, a state secretary of 
the Interchurch World Movement, who shows his lack 
of knowledge on the subject, and gives evidence in favor 
of Spiritualism when he says: "Any message ever re- 
ceived on the Ouija Board, or Planchette, came from 
the devil and not from God. It is harmful. God has 
given us no hope to believe that communication with 
the dead is possible. Prayer, and the reading of the 
Bible are our two means of consolation." 

What Spiritualist ever said that Ouija messages are 
from God? No profound student or investigator makes 
such a claim. Ella Wheeler Wilcox said her messages 
on the Ouija came from "Her Robert." She did not 
say they came from God. This gentleman closes his 
personal opinion with a remark about reading the Bible, 
and no doubt he has read the portions referring to the 
Transfiguration on the Mount, where Moses and Elias, 
both dead over a thousand years, are stated to have 
talked with Jesus, in the presence of Peter, James and 
John. He cannot possibly have failed to read about 
Peter's trance; or about Jesus materializing in the up- 
per room, and appearing amongst the Apostles WHEN 
THE DOORS WERE LOCKED, (for fear of the Jews). 
He has probably read the Revelation from first to last, 
which according to the Bible, was given to John on the 
Isle of Patmos, while in a trance. Will he, or any 
Bible student, still deny that communication is not 
proven ? 

Personally, I think those preachers who teach these 
untruths are the "False Prophets who have gone out 
into the world." It seems extraordinary, after all these 
positive Biblical proofs that spirits can and do com- 
municate with the living, that these teachers of Ortho- 
doxy continue to teach dogmas that are not only illogi- 
cal, but untrue, thereby denying their own Biblical evi- 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 107 

dence: stultifying their own assertions regarding the 
foundation of their religious belief. 

The scientific study of Spiritualism has led men of 
European fame to see the Light and the following in- 
vestigators have verified its phenomena : 

Those who think that Spiritualism is confined to 
America should read the recorded reports of investi- 
gators throughout Europe. A few of these may be 
mentioned, but thousands of other eminent men, (many 
clergymen amongst them), have verified for themselves 
the phenomena of Spiritualism. 

One clerical reference: The Eev. Ernest Jenkins, 
M. A., Congregational minister of Leeds, England, at 
the funeral of Lieutenant Harry Scholefield, "died of 
wounds," said: "Harry Scholefield not only lives, but 
is in conscious and intimate touch with us here. He has 
not passed to a land far, far away, hut is near at hand. ' ' 

The Rev. Dr. Theodore Parker, of London, England, 
ex-President Wilson (referring to our soldiers), and 
hundreds of learned, conscientious men have voiced 
similar sentiments regarding our loved ones who have 
ascended the ladder, and gone higher! 

France — Flammarion, Prof. Fournier D'Albe, Prof. 
Le Bon. 

Germany — Baron Von Schrenck, Notzing, M. D. 

Austria — Sigmund Freud of Vienna. 

Russia — Count Alexander Aksakoff, Count Solovovo. 

Poland — Dr. Ochorowicz. 

Italy — Professors Lombroso and Morselli. 

Holland — Dr. Malta, Dr. Zaalberg Van Zelst. 

Belgium — Prof. Delboeuf, Maurice Maeterlinck. 

America has produced no greater student than Dr. 
James H. Hyslop, and in Canada Dr. John King. 

England. 

Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Conan Doyle, Dr. Ennemoser, 
Lord Dewar, Sir Wm. Earnshaw Cooper, Rt. Hon. 
Arthur Balfour, Sir "Wm. Barrett, and Sir Wm. Crookes, 



108 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

who spent years in painstaking investigation in his own 
home, and elsewhere. Professor and Mrs. Sidwick, of the 
British Psychical Kesearch Society, investigated thou- 
sands of cases, and, like all those scientific open-minded 
truth seekers, published their conclusions that Life and 
remembrance continue after the mortal body has ceased 
to pulsate in earth life. 

EXPLOSION OF THE LUNACY BOGEY 

Nothing can be more discreditable to the orthodox 
preachers and their followers than the allegation so often 
made that Spiritualism is productive of insanity, and to 
a marked degree. This is very discreditable not only 
because it is untrue, but also because these tellers of 
fables must be fully aware, if they depend upon statis- 
tics, that facts absolutely fail to support the accusation. 
If their statements are true, why do they not produce 
the evidential proof? 

In the September number, 1919, of "The Harbinger 
of Light,' ' Melbourne, Australia, is the following ex- 
tract about this condition as it exists there and in Great 
Britain. "No one in Great Britain or in Australasia, 
will venture to supply these figures. Why? Simply 
because they do not exist. It is safe to say that many 
of these traducers have made a thorough search of the 
records of asylums for the insane, in the hope of dis- 
covering some semblance of evidence with which to bol- 
ster up their claims. We hurl the slander back in their 
teeth and defy them to prove the charge. There has 
never been such interest in Spiritualism in Great Britain 
as during the past few years. 

"It is described as having taken on the proportions of 
a ' mania. ' If, therefore, a study of the subject is pro- 
ductive of madness it would surely manifest itself in the 
official returns. But what do we find? Instead of in- 
sanity being on the increase, it has actually decreased 
during the past few years — for the first time since 1859. 
According to the 'Keport of the British Board of Con- 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 109 

trol,' there were 134,029 lunatics under control in Eng- 
land and Wales at the beginning of 1917, which showed 
a decrease of 3,159 on the figures of the previous year, 
while in 1915 there was a decline of 3,278 cases, these 
being the only cases since 1859 when the Lunacy Re- 
turns have failed to show a rise." Do these figures 
demonstrate that Spiritualism is filling the asylums? 
If Spiritualism has influenced the matter at all, does it 
not rather tend to show that it has been in the very oppo- 
site direction? As Mr. Arthur Hill, who is recognized 
as one of the most authoritative writers on the various 
phases of Spiritualism in England today, points out in 
his comprehensive work — 'Spiritualism, Its History, 
Phenomena and Doctrine' — the records of the insane 
asylums would almost seem to indicate that the conso- 
lations of spiritualistic beliefs are saving from insanity 
many who would otherwise have lost their reason through 
grief. Several persons have told me that in their own 
case, the NEW KNOWLEDGE HAD SAVED THEM 
FROM MENTAL DISASTER. It is quite likely that 
there are insane Spiritualists, as there are insane peo- 
ple of all colors, races and sects, but it has never yet 
been proven, or even considered probable, that insanity 
occurs in a higher proportion among Spiritualists than 
among other people. I know, however, of several cases 
of religious melancholia brought on by being repeatedly 
told ''that they will suffer everlasting torture if they 
do not believe as they are ordered to " ; but I have never 
known a Spiritualist who has become insane, and my 
experience has been confirmed by several magistrates 
who sign certificates of Lunacy. Testimony of one of 
them will be found in the "Two Worlds" for August 
24th, 1917, where Mr. Jones offers £100 to any charity 
if Dr. Robertson could substantiate his statements about 
Spiritualism causing insanity. The challenge was not 
accepted. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle states that "as a 
result of investigation in an American State, it was 
shown that out of 13,500 lunacy patients there were 



110 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

FOUR SPIRITUALISTS and 215 CLERGYMEN," and 

logically added "It is time that this nonsense ceased." 
It has been going on for half a century and there has 
never been a word of trnth in it. Lord Halifax, a High 
Churchman in England, some time ago had the temerity 
to parade this ridiculous insane bogey in the course 
of a lecture, and was brusquely replied to by the Rev. 
Charles Tweedale, F. R. G. S., vicar of "Weston, York- 
shire, who in his pamphlet, "Primitive Christianity and 
Modern Psychic Phenomena, ' ' writes : ' ' This falsehood, 
this cry of ' ware madness, ' was raised forty years ago, — 
and killed by statistics as soon as raised. I can obtain 
them for his lordship if he desires it. It was then found, 
that in the asylums from which the statistics were ob- 
tained there were very few persons suffering from mad- 
ness by devotion to psychic things, but that there were 
many cases of religious mania among the orthodox pa- 
tients. Such is the state of things today. Why does 
Lord Halifax not inveigh loudly against Christianity 
because of the many cases of religious mania among the 
orthodox?" To again disprove the lunacy falsehood 
beyond England and America, let us ask the Italian 
Scientists. We find that Prof. Morselli, Director of the 
Clinic of Mental Diseases at the University of Genoa, 
declares, — "Cases of madness among those devoted to 
psychic phenomena are VERY RARE. In my long 
experience among thousands of patients, I do not re- 
member more than four or five." 

There is one thing you may be sure of. The preach- 
ers have never told you just how many have been saved 
from mental unbalance, by the hope-inspiring gospel 
of Spiritualism. Millions bereaved by the war, have 
been saved from mental derangement by the knowl- 
edge that their boy, or their father, or their brother, 
or their husband, is not dead, but alive in another form, 
functioning in another media and can be with them at 
times; that they are not dead or beyond God's guiding 
Love in a dark grave under the sod. Let us, however, 






Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 111 

consider official and definite statistics ; absolutely reliable 
data, as to the number of people who have become men- 
tally deranged, possibly through the prospect of spend- 
ing eternity in an orthodox hell fire. A close inquiry 
of this kind would startle the country. 

After hearing many statements made from the pulpits 
of our orthodox churches in Los Angeles, and seeing 
accounts in the daily papers of the great numbers who 
were going insane by taking up the study of things 
Occult, I thought that I must have the statistics from 
the authorities of the State of California, for I could not 
believe these indefinite reports were true. It is to be 
regretted that the statements of positive preachers can- 
not always be relied upon, so I applied to the California 
State Commission in Lunacy, at Sacramento, Calif., of 
which Governor William D. Stephens is President ; Frank 
C. Jordan, Secretary of State; U. S. Webb, Attorney- 
General; Wilfred H. Kellogg, M.D., Secretary State 
Board of Health ; F. W. Hatch, M.D., General Superin- 
tendent, and Senator E. S. Birdsall, Secretary, in an 
effort to get the truth about this much discussed sub- 
ject. The answer to my letter follows: 

"Mr. James McGregor Beatty, Los Angeles, Calif. 
March 25, 1920. Dear Sir, — Beg to acknowledge receipt 
of your letter of March 14th, which I found on my re- 
turn from a trip. While I have not seen the published 
account attributed to me in reference to the Ouija Board, 
I have no doubt that it was the result of an expression 
of personal opinion given by me to a newspaper re- 
porter, who was in the office. Through newspaper pub- 
licity, attention has been called to some cases where 
certain people were committed to state institutions, due 
to excitement brought on by the unreasonable indul- 
gence in the use of the Ouija Board. Probably, however, 
this was simply a contributory cause, and WE HAVE 
NO RECORDS COMPILED ON WHICH WE COULD 
BASE COMPARISON OF PATIENTS COMMITTED 
TO OUR STATE HOSPITALS, IN REFERENCE TO 



112 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS; and in fact, we do 
not believe that such comparison would be fair or very 
authentic, on account of the fact that a great number of 
patients committed to the Superior Courts are not very 
clear as to what particular denomination they affiliated 
with, while in most instances our commitments purport 
to give the patients religious affiliation, THIS DATA 
IS MORE OR LESS UNRELIABLE. Personally, I 
HAVE NEVER NOTICED THAT PATIENTS PRO- 
FESSING SPIRITUALISTIC BELIEF PREDOM- 
INATED, AND IN FACT HAVE NEVER HEARD 
THE ACCUSATION THAT SPIRITUALISM WAS 
SENDING PEOPLE INSANE. Very often after in- 
sanity (which is nothing more nor less than a mental 
sickness) has taken place, patients develop hallucina- 
tions and other manifestations in reference to various 
forms of religion, the hereafter, electricity, wireless, and 
in fact, other subjects not well understood by the aver- 
age mind. Trusting this letter, which to a certain extent 
must be superficial, answers your communication suf- 
ficiently, I am yours respectfully, E. S. Birdsall, Sec- 
retary. ' ' 

Again we hurl the Positive Preachers ' untruths back 
in their teeth. Here are the State authorities of Cali- 
fornia backing up my statements that Spiritualism is 
NOT sending people insane, despite the opinions of the 
preachers who get so used to repeating fables that they 
sometimes forget and try to slip one over that they 
cannot prove. I wonder where they get their statistics. 
They are not very good at figures, for they say that this 
old world is only six thousand years old, despite the 
fact that Science dispelled that fable long ago. 

In a newspaper account on March 13, 1920, we read : 
"Ouija mania is an old disease under a new name. People 
went crazy over such puzzles as "Pigs in Clover" and 
the 14-15-16 Puzzle, declared Senator Birdsall of the 
State Lunacy Commission today. The added promi- 
nence of the Ouija Board, though the publicity given 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 113 

to spiritualists by such men as Sir Oliver Lodge and 
Conan Doyle," said Birdsall, "has stimulated interest 
in Spiritualism, but those people who have gone insane 
over the toy were already lacking in perspective, and 
were en route to where they finally landed." 

Dr. F. "W. Hatch, of the Commission says that, 
"THOSE WHO WENT CRAZY OVER THE OUIJA 
BOARD WOULD HAVE GONE INSANE SOONER 
OR LATER! THEY DIDN'T HAVE FAR TO GO." 
So let us ask the clergy to stop ' ' chasing rainbows, ' ' for- 
getting fallacies, and get down to bed-rock; stick close 
to truth, learn the facts, listen to the dictates of com- 
mon sense, remembering, it is good to seek the truth, 
but IT IS BETTER TO KNOW TRUTH AND FOL- 
LOW IT. 

I hope I shall not be forced into a detailed investiga- 
tion ; a searching of data and statistical proof, in defense 
of the truth about this subject ; I shall continue to believe 
such an investigation unnecessary, unless this untruth 
is continuously dragged out before the unenlightened 
mind of those orthodox who will believe almost any- 
thing told them in regard to the awful mental dangers 
of spiritualism. Read here of a case which came under 
the personal observation of the author, and the signer 
of this statement is well known to him. The knowl- 
edge of spiritualism gave help and comfort denied by 
Orthodoxy ; and by the Truth that Cheers she was lifted 
up and out of a Slough of Despond. Mrs. Pedigo's own 
words follow: 

"I take great pleasure in submitting the following 
statement to the public. I was raised an Orthodox, 
but through the death of my only son, I was brought 
into Spiritualism. He was twenty-two years old, just 
entering a bright, promising manhood. He was my 
pride, my joy. He met his death under very peculiar 
circumstances on January 31, 1917, at Winkleman, 
Arizona. Receiving the telegram stating that he had 
been killed, I went to Arizona and laid him to rest in 



114 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

that little mining town. ' I came home heart-broken, for 
according to my earlier teaching, my boy was lost. I 
could not become reconciled to his death. I wanted to 
die and go where he had gone, as Heaven without my 
boy would not be Heaven to me. I was fast becoming a 
mental and physical wreck, when Spiritualism rescued 
me from a living death. Was it by chance, or was it 
a higher power that led me to Mr. George Francis, 
pastor of the Francis Church of Truth, Spiritualist? 
No ! It was not chance, and I now realize it was the 
spiritual influence of my departed loved ones who drew 
me to that spot, where I was lifted from the lowest 
depths of despair to a high pinnacle of hope. Mr. 
Francis asked me no questions. Following is the mes- 
sage he gave me. He said: 'You have a son in spirit; 
he was killed, and his name was Frank.' He told me 
every incident, every circumstance connected with my 
son's death, just as it was told to me at Winkleman, 
Arizona. I asked him to try and see if he could learn 
what Frank tried to say when he was passing out. Mr. 
Francis went under control and said: 'I tried to send 
a message to my dear Mother, but every time I tried to 
speak I choked. 

1 1 1 1 had stock and wanted her to have it. Tell her to 
write to Babbett at Flagstaff.' The undertaker at 
"Winkleman told me that Frank had tried to say some- 
thing just as he was passing out, but every time he 
opened his mouth he choked. This message lifted a 
great load of sorrow from my heart, and proved that 
my boy was living and able to communicate with me 
through a medium. This caused me to think, for Mr. 
Francis did not know me, and there was only one per- 
son in Los Angeles besides myself who knew the circum- 
stances under which my boy died. 

I went home and determined to investigate for myself. 
I did not write to Babbett then, but wrote to the post- 
master, asking him if there was any person in or near 
Flagstaff by the name of Babbett. He answered, 'Yes.' 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 115 

I went back to the medium to see if he could get Bab- 
bett 's full address. He took up his pencil and wrote: 
'David Babbett Bros., Merchants, Flagstaff, Arizona.' 
I wrote to this address, telling Mr. Babbett I had learned 
that my son had stock on his range, and I asked him to 
investigate for me. I received an answer to this letter, 
written on a letter-head, the printing of which was a 
perfect facsimile of the address given me by the medium. 
Mr. Babbett said to give him some idea of what my 
son's stock consisted, where located, etc., and he would 
look it up for me. I again went to the medium to see 
if he could help find out these things, and he said 'Tell 
Mother I had forty horses and twenty head of young 
cattle on the Babbett range, in northern Arizona, in the 
care of (naming the man). I wrote to Babbett again, 
giving him the information. He again answered, tell- 
ing me to get the stock brand, if possible. » Mr. Francis 
later took out his pencil and drew the following diagram 

of the brand later I got in touch with a man by 

the name of who claimed to be a friend of 

Frank's, and who said he was sure that Frank had no 
less than thirty horses and some cattle, and that if I 
would give him power-of -attorney, authorizing him to 
search for, take possession of, and sell said stock for me, 
that he would attend to it for me. I did this, thinking 
he would deal fairly with me. At this point I employed 
an attorney to help me. I could get no more letters 
from this man. The attorney could get no answers to 
his letters. Finally I received a letter, telling me that 
he knew nothing about the cattle or the brand. My 
attorney knew that evidence obtained from the spirit 
world is not received or recognized by the Courts today, 
and as that was the only evidence I had, we could do 
nothing, so I had to lose them on that account. ' ' Signed, 
Mrs. Viola Wren Pedigo, 738 West 16th street, Los 
Angeles, Calif. 

One of our great spiritual teachers in Los Angeles, 
who has come forward for the Truth of Spirit com- 



116 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

munion, and the knowledge "that the two worlds are 
actually one to those who will have it so, ' ' is Carl Bron- 
son, composer and teacher, who for years was prepared 
by guidance to give out to the world The Soul of Truth. 
Those who read his wonder epic, " Flow 'r-of -the-Mist, " 
recently published, will know that "it is now time for 
the beautiful sweetness of Truth to shine upon 
Humanity. ' ' 

Mr. Bronson was for many years the director of a 
great choir in a Methodist Church of Los Angeles, and 
he has held similar positions in nearly every great de- 
nomination, and has been prepared through years for 
just the work he is doing. I am a privileged listener to 
truth from his lips, when a group of students gather 
for this purpose. 

His close personal friendship with Ella Wheeler Wil- 
cox was not -a matter of chance, but guidance of a rare 
sort, and when informed of the author's desire to give 
to his readers some of the beautiful gems of Truth from 
across the line, the following messages from Mrs. Wil- 
cox were given him for publication in this book, and 
appear just as they were written through the hand of 
Mr. Bronson 's daughter, Ruth Bronson. 

' ' Maude is here : 

' ' Over swaying tree-tops the joyous wind-spirits dance, 
and whisper the wonderful secrets of other lands and 
worlds. 

"We, here, often tend toward the dancing freedom 
of the winds and playful tree-tops. 

"When cradled in the branches of some tall pine, we 
feel the eternal Life-Force vibrating through the veins 
of the tree's majestic being, and sense the great living 
force which interweaves man's being with all creation. 

"Astride the restless steed of our forces ride the 
planets with rein in check and crest high. 

"The sun-star holds the fiery forces of heat in the 
course assigned by the Master. 

"By the same force we are set upon our course of 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 117 

experience and upheld by an unfailing strength, if we 
but take into our beings the forces of burning, eternal 
suns. 

"Penetrate the forests of human souls and find the 
same desire impelling the soul on to its perfection of 
freedom and understanding. 

"This desire draws into the being, forces which other 
effort cannot command. 

"Long has the Soul energy worked within the Dark- 
ened chamber of earth thought, and now a light has 
dawned which shall flood all darkened places of earth, 
and dispel all thoughts of darkness. 

"Maude has flown to other duties, and so I must go. 

—"Ella." 
Through the hand of Ruth Bronson. 
March 1, 1921. 

"Maude is here; I was proving my presence with a 
great power. Write now for Mrs. Wilcox. Mrs. Wil- 
cox is writing. 

"When the swift thoughts wing their flight, the four 
winds are far outsped. The thought has wings space- 
less, directing. 

"We send tender reflections to. our beloved ones, and 
no distance can divide the perfect unity of the thought 
if we are fired by ardor of being. 

"Mountain heights affront the troops of thoughts 
sent across the seas, but cannot stay them. There is no 
material of earth which is proof against the penetration 
of thought. 

"You see the power of this force, which men use as 
children might play with our burning forces. Often 
unguarded, we permit destructive darts to leave our 
thought generator, all of which weaken our forces of 
strength. 

"Now the world is at its dawn, in which all beings 
shall be Soul-conscious, and all thoughts guarded; and 



118 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

only those dispatched which have building, constructive 
forces within. —"Ella." 

Through the hand of Euth Bronson, 
March 8, 1921. 



Following inspirational poem was written by Carl 
Bronson for this book: 

HOW I BEGAN TO SEE 

Tho' I did sing of Truth the whole day long, 

I could not find an ear would list 'my song. 

And so I sang unto the stars above, 

And told them of my yearnings, and my love. 

'Twas thus I bore the sting of walking lone; 

Of knowing, and yet living all unknown. 

Yet, ever persevering with my rhyme, 

At last there struck within my soul a chime 

Like to that of the Master 's pulsing note ; 

More wond'rous than the song of my poor throat. 

I dared not guess, at first, from whence it came ; 

But waited long — until I heard my name 

Outwhispered clear, as from a Heav'nly throng. 

Ah! Then I knew the portent of my song, 

And realized I had not sung in vain. 

It matters not that men hear not your strain: 

Ye only need to be at heart sincere, 

To have God's Angels lend a list'ning ear. 

— Carl Bronson. 
"Written for my friend and fellow pilgrim, Beatty. 
Los Angeles, March 25, 1921. 



Before closing this chapter I feel it a duty to present 
to my readers a few dictated writings, given to a young 
man now living in Los Angeles, by name Oliver G. Wal- 
lace, who is publicly well known as a great musician and 
popular song writer, and now holding a position as 
organist in one of the largest theatres in Los Angeles, 
although few knew the extent of his spiritual develop- 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 119 

ment, for he is one of the truly inspired organists of this 
country. 

Mr. Wallace is also the writer of the world famous 
song "Hindustan" and many other popular melodies of 
our day. The following messages were chosen from a 
great variety from the unseen side of life, and presented 
to the author with the hope that they will be of help in 
proving, that, what is most needed is OPEN HEARTS 
AND MINDS waiting for NEW LIGHT. Mr. Wallace's 
writings follow : 

' ' Give out the Word to all those who would listen with 
their hearts. To give unto those who would listen with 
tired ears of the worldly world, is like putting a napkin 
around the neck of a pig before filling his trough with 
the 'leavings' of the table. You will always know 
whether you are casting your 'line' in the right stream 
by the beetles that reside thereon, and you will also know 
when you are serving a banquet to swine by the 'grunt- 
ings' that emanate therefrom. And so always choose 
words to suit the occasion and the guests. If one's 
stomach will hold only water, don't waste the juice of 
fruits on them. If one's eyes can only see by candle 
light, don't ask them to look into the Face of the Sun, 
and don't argue that they are right or wrong; the old 
worn but still apropo adage, 'Time will tell' is still the 
great judge of all. Just try to hold a loving thought for 
them and your road will be indeed a happy one and can 
lead you to but one place and that is the 'Fountain of 
all.' " 



"Wherefore is mankind about to come into the Great 
Millennium. At what age of the world is this great thing 
expected to come upon us ? Theologians have decreed, or 
rather have they told us that it will be with the coming 
of the Christ. If that is a fact, then the Millennium 
must be with us every minute of the day, every day of 
the year, at any and every moment some one of us ar- 
rives at or experiences the Millennium or the great 



120 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

Illumination, or understanding of the Laws of God. 
Why do the Orthodox insist on interpreting from the 
cold words the literal meaning, instead of the spirit. The 
Millennium is the uplift of the Spirit, that is the Christ. 
We are Christ in Soul before we are fallen in matter and 
in matter we learn our lessons or certain lessons and 
when the dross is eliminated from us while in that state 
then the Spirit or Soul comes again into its own. There- 
fore the second coming of Christ or the Great Millen- 
nium. Singly do we come to this state from the universal 
Soul and singly must we go back from whence we came. 
We must all attain to that degree, each must experience 
his Millennium and no one shall tell when it will come 
upon them, truly it shall come as the thief in the night. 
But verily it shall steal and yet leave us enriched far 
greater than ever we were before its coming, for it will 
rob us of our materialism and in its stead give us the 
great sight with which we shall see all and nothing shall 
or can possibly be concealed from the sight. And that 
sight is called and is spirituality or the rebirth of Soul 
or the Great Millennium. ' ' 



"Since man has begun to realize the substance of 
etheric force, they have been able to come to a definite 
scientific fact, that all is really here and now and within 
touch of the valuable information that they or mankind 
have been seeking for thousands of years. It is here and 
now that they are enlightened with the greatness of the 
Allness of things and intensity of all creative forces that 
are operating thru the different sensitises or mediums. 
It is becoming so plain to the great scientists that they 
themselves are beginning to realize that they themselves 
must live the life ere they can discover the Great Giver 
of Light. They themselves must live in the Abstract or 
Absolute or Light or any other name they wish to apply 
to the All Soul. They know that it is impossible for them 
to actually know how palatable an orange is until they 
partake of that orange themselves. It is just the same 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 121 

in science ; they cannot realize the Great All unless they 
consciously partake of the All. No one can explain to 
anyone else their great experience and make them realize 
what they have realized. And so with science of to- 
day, the scientist must live it himself." 



" Whether man's mentality is able to grasp the great 
thoughts that are of the Beyond is a matter of con- 
jecture to many of the so-called ministers of the sciences. 
But this we do know, all men are not alike, and for that 
we are not only thankful, but extremely fortunate. 
Very slow progress would we make if the entire world 
were made up of the Orthodox type of narrow minded 
souls that are really deluded thru the teachings of their 
predecessors and the lack of mental courage, or in most 
cases, the indifference to anything that appertains to 
spirituality. Their cry is ever, one thing at a time, and 
truly that cry is correct. Yea, verily, One Thing at a time. 
But they do not appreciate the great truth; the One 
Great Thing is the blending of the material with the 
spiritual; the One Great Thing is the mastery over the 
material thru Love of the spiritual, not thru cruelty to 
the material. When man shall come into that great 
realization, then will his advancement be rapid, his- 
mentality clear and clean and ready to grasp any great 
truth from the beyond, which will at the climax be not 
the beyond but the here and now. ' ' 



" Relentlessly do men of the age commit all kinds of 
errors appertaining to the sciences of the Ethereal 
Realms, by their cold, calculating attitude. How much 
more could they ascertain if they would use a little of 
the Heart Warmth that the Great God gave all to use. 
All great questions are sought after in the same calculat- 
ing manner, but only are they successful when the heart 
warmth is admitted and then how easy it is to prove any 
of the works that are apparently unfathomable. Just 
take for instance, the works of the philosophers of the 



122 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

olden days, centuries before Christ. See how they have 
been clarified, not thru plain figures and cold deductions, 
but through the Heart Warmth together with a steady 
inspiring flow from the Great All. And so we can know 
anything that is brought to light only thru the Great 
Light of All. Just remember the Heart of Man is God's 
reservoir ; it is Man's Heart that God fills with His Light, 
His Love, His Understanding and that is the Heart 
Warmth that gives us courage to do all. ' ' 



It is to be regretted that many minds are not as open 
to the Truth as they are to the teachings of Pagan 
Dogmas. Just this note of warning to the "Drastic 
Dogma Defenders" of the world. Beware! Before it 
be too late. The great whistle on the engine of Truth 
has sounded to clear the line. Do not block the cross- 
ing of the tracks on the railroad of Life. Do not allow 
a train of box cars, loaded with the Livestock of Ignor- 
ance to obstruct your view when the beautifully lighted 
express rushes through on the main line of Facts and 
Reason, headed for that wonderful city of Everlasting 
Progression. 

Do not be content to ride on the slow local of Uncer- 
tainty; stopping at every station along the way, includ- 
ing those of Doubt, Fear, Misunderstanding, Misappli- 
cation, Ignorance, Valley of Belief, Island of Indiffer- 
ence, and many other stations that retard your real 
journey to the Eternal City Beautiful. 

Do not miss the train at the Union Station of Facts ; 
get aboard with your feet firmly planted on the Plat- 
form of Truth. Swing down the Alleyway of Mental 
Research to your birth of Contentment. Open your suit- 
case of Celestial Desire, and from it take out the book 
under the title of "The Path of Progression"; so, as 
you sit there looking out of the window of Happiness, 
you will recognize the stations of Self Liberation, Mental 
Activity, Personal Achievement, Usefulness, Freedom 



Spiritualism Is Not of the Devil 123 

and God-given Satisfaction. Soon yon shall hear the 
Bell of Deliverance and the Condnctor of Years, known 
as Father Time, will call ont, "Next Station, KNOWL- 
EDGE." Then, with a firm, buoyant step, walk out 
of that station into the great City of Certainty, with 
Absolute Trust in the Heart and Absolute Knowledge 
in the Mind, and there wait and rest in the House of 
Enlightenment, ready to Dare, to Do, to Love. 

Hunt up as an acquaintance, one who will turn out 
to be a firm friend, — Perseverance; He will introduce 
you to his twin daughters, by name, Concentration and 
Contemplation. For a pal, choose one called Divine 
Law. He may take you along some very rocky roads. 
He may seem to insist that you climb a trail that is 
wholly distastful to you. But listen, and as you climb 
you will become conscious of "something" within your 
breast saying, "This is just what I needed. This exer- 
cise will be beneficial to me," and you will return from 
your tramp better fitted to go still further and climb up 
the Mountain of Perfection, where you shall be in daily 
touch with Goodness and Spiritual Insight, Silence, Up- 
liftment, Watchfulness, Vision and Victory. 

Your daily song shall be ' ' God is Spirit ; All is Spirit ; 
I am Spirit. ' ' Then, with the knowledge that all things 
spring from that Fount of Infinite Love, — and that great 
Thought of Eternal Life pulsating through every cell 
of your body, you will know that by thus practising a 
Life of Love, — an Absolute Blending of yourself with 
the Great Divine Spirit of the Universe, you can wait 
in patience the call of the Great Master to enter the life 
beyond the Veil, and the "Sayer of Verities" will take 
you home, there to blend with the "I AM" into an At- 
one-ment with Him, in the great world of Spiritual 
Progression, — on and on, ever on, to greater and grander 
things. Why, then, fear that "Death," which is only 
the Gateway to a brighter, nobler life. "0, Death, 
where is thy sting? 0, Grave, where is thy Victory?" 



"LET THERE BE LIGHT" 

Note. — The author desires to state that to all intents and 
purposes this book was finished; the manuscript being edited, 
and made ready for the printer's hands, when at a private 
circle where only chosen students are invited, a message 
came through automatic writing that its receiver would in 
due time be given a closing Chapter, under the title of, "Let 
There Be Light." The following was received in that man- 
ner, during two sittings, and is printed exactly as it was 
given, from spirit realms, word for word: 

"Let there be Light," was the God-given command 
of Ancient days. Again the fiat goes forth and this 
time it is not mere material light, but the Spiritual Light 
that is to be made manifest. The light of God bestowed 
knowledge — a rediscovery of the Truths of the Divine 
religion of the great Creator, as taught and practised 
by Jesus the Christ. Few realize that true Spiritism 
(or Spiritualism as it is commonly spoken of), is a 
practical religion of Service to mankind at large, and 
is indeed the purest form of Christianity, being based 
on lessons learned from the Sacred Writings of all 
nations and all times, but particularly those taught by 
the God-like man, — Our Elder Brother, — who walked 
among men, felt as we do, suffered even as we do, and 
finally endured the pangs of a cruel, mortal death. 

Spiritualism is the collated evidence of all recorded 
history, regarding the "First Great Cause," — God, as 
we call Him, — a practical study of the evidence that 
exists the world over, proving the fact that God is liv- 
ing, and, for thousands of years has evidenced an actual 
existence by communicating with those whom he desired 
to influence by means sometimes normal, but frequently 
super-normal, such as spirit messengers (angels) ; pro- 

124 



' ' Let There Be Light ' ' 125 

phetic utterances, or writing (seers) ; phenomena — read 
the Old Testament — an iron axehead floating on water 
— a cruise of oil, never failing — a fleece of wool, dry (or 
wet) — as a test. Fire from heaven, in response to prayer. 
All being Spiritual evidence sent by God to doubting 
mankind. Prophecy of every variety, varying in fervor 
for thousands of years. Manifestations of foreknowl- 
edge as disclosed to the nations of all ages, considered as 
supernatural in their days. 

Nothing with G-od is supernatural ! His laws are those 
of Nature, and normal; even though we fail to discover 
their characteristics. The Divine Spiritualistic religion 
inspires a search for knowledge of God's attributes and 
His intentions regarding all things created; stimulates 
us to meet every wave that reaches to our mortal brain, 
so that we may attune ourselves with the unknown In- 
finite realms beyond earth life, and so obtain a firmer 
faith, a greater love for God; and, by a closer unity of 
ourselves with mankind, in harmony of spirit, make our 
lives here more pure, more unselfish, and more fit to 
meet the spirits passed hence. To this end the man 
Jesus was actually the essence of God in man — the pro- 
totype — the typical created soul on earth, portraying 
the sublime power of the Father-God, as Creator, with 
the Pure Love of the Divine Spirit — the I AM — un- 
created, incomprehensible to mere mortal mind — the All- 
Wise Spiritual Essence of Eternal and Universal Life. 

Every religion that the world has seen has been de- 
rived from Inspired (Spirit) Intuition. God's Word — 
possibly heard, more often felt or written at the insti- 
gation of an unknown power (control) has given some 
spiritualized being the thoughts, the energy, to lead to 
the Unknown Light. 

A progressive mind, used by Spirit forces, produced 
Zoroaster, Confucius, Buddha, Mahomet. Each a master 
light of his age. Each produced his particle of Divine 
wisdom to strike the light of souls in harmony and set 



126 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

afire a new enthusiasm for more Light on the Life to 
come after death. 

Each teacher fulfilled his mission to humanity. Then 
Jesus the Christ came to earth — meek and humble of 
birth — teaching the purest truth — resisting all evil. 
Maintaining the potency of Love, Hope, Charity, Kind- 
ness, Unselfishness; dissolving with his spiritual knowl- 
edge the difficulties then surrounding the teachings of 
the priests and rabbis of the Mosaic dispensation. Giving 
new renderings of ancient dogmas, and telling of Im- 
mortal Life through Eternal love. Space does not per- 
mit of detailed facts, but the Light of the earth world 
was shown to mankind in, and through, the life of Jesus ! 

All the prophets, seers, wise men for thousands of 
years had spoken in detail of HIS earth life. His cruel 
death ; it was Spiritualism, as we know it today ! Could 
we but understand the Scripture aright — we should know 
that Truth shines forth from first to last. The Light- 
beams seek to attract each one of us, and the God that- 
inspired the writings, ordained also these mysteries 
humanity cannot yet understand in the world's varied 
religions. Today there are probably 450,000,000 Brah- 
mins and Buddhists in the world — all Spiritualists in 
varied forms ; their experts practising through ages past 
all the phenomena of today, and possessing knowledge 
known long before the history of the! world as recorded 
in our Bible, which is verified, however, in a wonderful 
way, in their philosophies. About 604 B. C, the Chinese 
reformer, Lao-tse, taught that " Divine messengers 
brought moral and religious truths to mankind in spirit 
visitations, and guided, for good or evil, the destiny of 
those to whom they attached themselves." The Lao-tse 
school of Philosophy taught "that guardian spirits were 
ever around, and that materialists were fools or imbe- 
ciles." Kong-fu-tse (Confucius), 552 B. C, taught "the 
invisible world is constantly communicating with those 
enlightened enough in the material world ' ' ; that, ' ' both 
good and bad spirits surround and control us for well 



' ' Let There Be Light ' ' 127 

or ill." Their teachings were the spiritualism of the 
ancient Hebrews, Hindoos, Persians, Chaldeans, Roman 
Oracles, Greek Mysteries, Roman Catholic teachings of 
old, and of today: of Buddhists and Brahminical Yogi, 
lore of ancient times, as well as those evidential scien- 
tific studies of Spiritualism today, which has led men 
of European fame to see the Light of Truth, — as evi- 
denced by the writings of such men as John Wesley, 
Swedenborg, Pastor Oberlin, D. D. Home, F. W. H. 
Myers, W. T. Stead, EUa Wheeler Wilcox. 



Spiritualism is no new fad, but is the new revelation 
of ancient religion ! Listen to what the Philosophers of 
ancient days wrote : 

Plato, in his Timoaus, says: "Between God and man 
are the daimones, or spirits, who are always near us, 
though commonly invisible to us, and know all our 
thoughts." 

Josephus, the great Jewish historian, who recorded 
the spirit manifestations at the Fall of Jerusalem, wrote : 
"If anyone think these things incredible, let him keep 
his opinion to himself, and not contradict those who, by 
such events, are incited to the study of virtue." 

Zenophon, in his memoirs of Socrates, wrote: "When 
he found any who could not satisfy themselves with the 
knowledge that lay within the reach of human wisdom, 
Socrates advised them to apply diligently to the study 
of divination; for whosoever was acquainted with those 
mediums which the gods made use of, when they com- 
municated with man, need never be destitute of Divine 
counsel. ' ' 

Aristotle says (Physics, iv, 2, 3) : "All these invisible 
beings are as substantial as the material beings." 

Pythagoras says: "Spirits announce to man secret 
things, and foretell the future." 

Empedocles (Carminia V, 11-15) : "Spiritual forces 
move the invisible world." 

Plato: "The daemons (spirits) direct man, in the 



128 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

quality of guardian spirits, in all his actions ; as witness 
the demon of Socrates." 

Cicero says: "Natural divination arises from an 
inner state and activity in certain men of great consti- 
tional purity, which enables an unfettered advance of 
the soul to foretell future things from an inner and 
divine source confined in the inner recesses of the mind, 
and moved thereto by a divine impulse." 

Of modern writers, Bishop Burnet says : ' ' Those who 
hate the very name of a miracle, in reality, suppose the 
greatest of all miracles; — the tying up of the hands of 
the Almighty from disposing events according to His 
will." 

Spiritualism did not originate with the Fox Sisters. 
Manifestations similar to theirs were exemplified in 
the days of Marcus Antinous when "Aristides the 
Orator, told of events then occuring at distant places." 
Even 2500 years ago Epimenides, the Poet, and friend 
of Solon of Greece, (as recorded by Pliny) "on waking 
from long periods of trance, related scenes of spirit 
life," similar to those described by our modern Sweden- 
borg. The Roman Philosophy was similar, but was 
clearly derived from Greek sources varied to suit local 
conditions. St. Augustine, (DeVeritate, XVIII-23) 
quotes the Erythraen Sibyl of Chaldea, in her prophecy 
describing the life of Christ ; and Virgil in his Eclogue 
IV recites a similar one, given 40 years before Christ's 
birth, by the Cumaean Sybil of Troy. 

Thus we find inspired and profane history alike bear 
witness to Spiritistic Light and Prophecy. Indeed it 
would appear from the account written by Ammianus 
Marcellinus, in the reign of the Emperor Valens, A. D. 
371, that "certain philosophers were tried for divina- 
tion by means of a table" similar in action to the mod- 
ern Ouija Board. This is confirmed by Socrates, Schol- 
asticus and others. 

"World reform is evolution of the human mind at 



' ' Let There Be Light ' ' 129 

such time as God sees the necessity of individuals and 
nations. 

Spiritualism illustrates this in its expansion. The idea 
gradually grew, took root in many minds and was 
ready, when the world war arose, to show itself as a 
means of verifying immortal existence by linking up 
the mortal with the spiritual entity — through the chains 
of love, affection, and intelligent communication. 

A Supreme Power controls the Universe and guides 
its vibrations (ethereal and many other waves) so as 
to impinge on the organs of certain attuned individuals, 
so that they may see, hear, feel, and understand phe- 
nomena which may be imperceptible to other people. 

A true Reformation — physical, moral, intellectual, 
spiritual! The Light Beacon shining forth to help hu- 
manity prove the truth of Spiritualism — when prac- 
ticed! Physical science cannot be expected to accept 
Spiritual phenomena until the mind of the scientific ex- 
perimentalist is capable of reaching out from the earthly 
material plane and discovering that, beyond its mun- 
dane recognized natural laws, there are higher spiritual 
laws ; governed by order, and as immutable as those 
we are ready to accept as our guide in seeking to ac- 
count for obscure natural phenomena. No two persons 
see, feel, hear alike, so science is ever changing its bases, 
and progress is a Divine law, — especially in knowledge 
of the Hereafter ! 

Spiritualism teaches of God; Life after Death; Self- 
Regeneration; Mercy as God's Attribute. It aims to 
make mankind better qualified by living in Unselfish- 
ness, Virtue, Honesty, Purity; loving to one another; 
realizing that beneficent spirits are ever seeking to guide 
and help, if we will permit them so to do. Life on earth 
is a continued series of inexplicable phenomena — changes 
of body, unseen and unfelt, — constant renewal, — and 
yet the same individual to all appearance. Death is but 
a change, in which the organs, as we know them, fail 
to react to our view, (in similar manner) ; and, in which 



130 Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 

state Spiritualists believe more pure materials than flesh 
and blood function, — in some other phase of Life lead- 
ing to Eternal existence. A Transition — Translation! 

St. Paul said: "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God." "There is a natural body and there 
is a spiritual body. ' ■ " We shall all be changed ; and bear 
the image of the heavenly as we have borne the image 
of the earthly." 

Here, on earth, each one of us is working out for him- 
self that cycle of progress, through the Universe, which 
shall purify the soul, and fit the Divine essence im- 
planted in each mortal body to return to the Creator, 
when its ordained development has been fully matured, 
and the spirit is liberated from mortal desire in its' 
home of material flesh. 

Be assured, ye who read these lines, that God liveth 
today as powerful as when, at the creation, He issued 
his fiat, LET THERE BE LIGHT ! He is all around 
us. He liveth in us if we so desire! His ministering 
spirits are potent for good. They bear our prayers to 
His home beyond ; and, if we worship Him in Faith and 
in Truth, the message He gave to the children of Israel, 
(as recorded in Exodus XXIII-20) shall be applied to 
us also — "Behold I send my angel, who shall go before 
thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into 
the place I have prepared." At this point the writing 
stopped and the question was asked mentally if the mes- 
sage was concluded, when, the hand was controlled again 
and wrote— "IT IS FINISHED, 16th March, 1921." 

* * * 

BENEDICTION 

0, Father of All in that centre of the Universe that 
thou hast created, lead us to a knowledge that thou art 
the Supreme Creator and thou alone : that creeds are as 
nothing • that thou art a loving God and that all created 
things abide in thy Love. Teach us to understand that 



Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers 131 

all the nations and religions are one to thee ; that Chris- 
tian, Jew, Mohammedan, Buddhist, Confucian, Brahman, 
are thy children. That Love and Brotherhood, Truth, 
and Justice, unselfishness, charity, mercy, and prayer 
alone lead to Thee. 

Help us to practice Thy Will and bring us speedily 
to the end of this life of pain and sorrow, and finally 
receive us into Oneness with thyself for evermore. 

Moreover something is, or seems, 
That teaches me with mystic gleams, 
Like glimpses of forgotten dreams — 
Of something felt, like something here; 
Of something done, I know not where; 
Such as no language may declare! 

Tennyson. 



THE END 



Read this Book 

If You Want 
The Truth 

ILLUSTRIOUS 
MADMEN of the AGES 

By James McGregor Beatty 



Being the testimony of the World's greatest Scientists, 
and others, regarding Spiritualism, and its psychical phe- 
nomena, together with a Spiritualistic Encyclopedia of the 
Old and New Testaments. 

Contains quotations from the Talmud, the Koran, Book 
of Mormon, the Gospel of Buddha, Hinduism, the Zoroastrian 
Religion, Methodism, Douay version of the Catholic Bible 
and others, showing their Spiritualism. 

One chapter is devoted to "Wisdom Persecuted," giving the 
most flagrant cases of "Religious" persecution which stand 
out in the history of the world. 

Every Liberal should get the book for Facts; Every Spir- 
itualist, for Reference; the Orthodox, for Knowledge. 



Address 

james McGregor beatty 

245 North Hope Street 

Los Angeles, Cal. 
[ 132 ] 



Tribute of Readers and the Press 

"Your book of 127 pages has the merit, the collected merit, 
of being much, very much, in a little space. These massive 
volumes bloated with polysyllabic words, have had their day. 
Your book is rich in facts and inspired principles that 
prophesy of immortality. My prayer is that this excellent 
book may be a prelude to future works from your energetic 
and well-balanced brain." 

— James M. Peebles, M.D., M.A., Ph.D. 

"A trite old saying with a big meaning, is this: 'Good 
goods are done up in small packages.' This saying was 
never more truly spoken than of Mr. James McGregor 
Beatty's little book with the somewhat alarming title, 'Illus- 
trious Mad-Men of the Ages.' In this book the great men of 
the ages gather and express themselves — witnesses they are 
— before an austere court of critics giving utterance to ex- 
pressions of Truth, that no stable-minded man dare deny. 
Not only is the book a court of testimony, but it is a store- 
house of information on religious movements whose past 
originated in Spiritual Manifestations. From the Talmud, 
the Book of Mormon, the Gospel of Buddha, the Koran of 
Mohammed, the Vedas and all modern religions, quotations 
are taken which establish beyond peradventure a spiritual 
basis, together with claims of spiritual manifestations. Be- 
tween the two lids of the small volume can also be found a 
complete Spiritualistic Encyclopedia of both the Old and 
New Testaments. This feature alone is worth many times 
the price of the book and is ammunition every truth seeker 
should have at hand. Mr. Beatty has produced a handy 
classic digest of much value. None but one who has com- 
piled and reduced matter such as he gives in this work, 
knows the care and labor involved." — Mrs. Bernie Babcock. 
Novelist and playwright of Little Rock, Ark. President of 
Friends Memorial for Psychical Research; Arkansas Rep- 
resentative of "League of American Pen Women"; author of 
the Abraham Lincoln Romance, "The Soul of Ann Rutledge." 

Dr. David Starr Jordan of Stanford University writes: 
"Let me thank you for your interesting booklet on the 'Illus- 
trious Mad-Men.' I find the historical record very interesting 
and just." 

Rev. Dr. Andrew Malcolm Morrison, F.R.L.S., member 
American Anthropological Society, writes: "In 'Illustrious 
Mad-Men of the Ages,' James McGregor Beatty has given a 
symposium of Psychical Phenomena of the Earth as recorded 
in all languages, among all races. He has searched the litera- 
ture and science of earth with an acumen and judgment abso- 
lutely marvelous, and with a patient penetration capable only 
of the Scot. 

[133] 



"If, after reading his wonderful and all embracing work, 
any one shall remain a skeptic, he may be considered as 
absolutely spiritually blind and may be relegated to the 
sphere of mental and spiritual imbecility." 

The above testimony of Dr. Morrison is most impressive. 
He is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable men on earth. 
Nearing the wonderful age of a century, his eye is not dim 
nor his natural force abated. He ranks in profound scholar- 
ship with the Sages. He is a graduated M.D., a voluminous 
author, chancellor of the Panteka University and holds mem- 
bership in some of the most scholarly associations. He, for 
seventy years, has been an able preacher of the Gospel, both 
in Europe and America, and stands unsurpassed as an orator 
of profound erudition and impressive eloquence. He is also 
a successful Healer of Disease by the Gift of the Spirit. 
— The Author. 

Robert C. Kroll, author, publisher and associate editor of 
the Trades Council Union News of St. Louis, writes: "I 
read your book and found it very interesting. To students 
of Spiritual Science it will prove a very useful reference, 
because you have collected many valuable references in a 
very small space. It should also prove a deciding factor to 
those who are on the fence and don't know on which side to 
get off. This fact should make the book popular with prose- 
lyting Spiritualists." 

Elizabeth Deuress, founder of the Los Angeles School of 
Metaphysics, writes: "I have enjoyed reading 'Illustrious 
Mad-Men.' I think the book is fine, and I feel that it should 
be widely circulated, for it deals with facts and states the 
Truth." 

A review printed in AZOTH, 1400 Broadway, New York 
City, says: "The purpose of this book is to show the wide- 
spread belief in Spiritualism and Spiritism throughout the 
ages, with the suggestion that to the unprejudiced mind, it 
would seem impossible that all the illustrious witnesses re- 
ferred to by the author should have been madmen, as the 
world generally seems to have classified them. It is true 
that the community is inclined to regard as insane those who 
disagree radically with prevailing beliefs, and that many 
who were so looked upon in their day are now considered 
merely as having been in advance of their time. And yet this 
in no way proves that any particular idea that is refused 
general acceptance expresses truths higher than those already 
reached by the multitude. Such a conclusion would make 
madmen of humanity in general. However, the author's array 
of names and facts is certainly both interesting and impres- 
sive. And it suggests that whatever one's belief regarding 
Spiritualism, he will not lack good company in accepting it." 

[134] 



Mrs. M. L. Lee, 513 Coal street, Wilkinsburg, Pa., writes: 
"Received the 25 copies of your book, and I did not have the 
string cut on the package until they were all sold. I enclose 
a P. O. money order, for which send me 100 more copies as 
soon as possible, for the people seem very anxious for just 
such a book. People who never had their eyes opened cer- 
tainly have them opened when they read 'Illustrious Mad-Men 
of the Ages.' " 

"Enclosed, find check for 100 more copies of 'Illustrious 
Mad-Men of the Ages.' I took the last 100 copies I got to 
the church and did not have them there fifteen minutes 'till 
they were all sold. Could have sold 100 more copies right 
away if I had only ordered more. As soon as your new 
book, 'Pesky Problems for Positive Preachers/ is ready, let 
me know. I think they will sell quickly." 

— Mrs. M. L. Lee. 

Basil King, the famous English novelist and author of "The 
Abolishing of Death," writes : "Your little book just received, 
and I may say that a glance into it shows me that I shall be 
glad to read it — that I shall do so with profit." 

From a noted public worker and lecturer: "I have been 
handed a copy of your book, 'Illustrious Mad-Men of the 
Ages,' and I am very much pleased with it. This book should 
be in the hands of every Spiritualist in the country. I feel 
it will give the world something to think about." — Mrs. Ellen 
Halderbaum, Massillon, Ohio. 

Ethel G. Brady, editor of Psyche of Detroit, Mich., a maga- 
zine devoted to Psychology, Philosophy and Science, writes: 
"We have received a copy of your book, 'Illustrious Mad-Men 
of the Ages/ and have read it with much interest. Please 
allow us to compliment you on its policy and its splendid 
appearance. We consider that the quotations, as you have 
compiled them, make it a very valuable work, which would 
be of great assistance to any one trying to justify a belief 
in Spiritualism by the teachings of the Bible. Personally, I 
keep it on my desk as a ready reference and find it most 
helpful." 

From the famous actor and screen star, Monroe Salisbury: 
"Many thanks for your 'Illustrious Mad-Men of the Ages.' 
I have read it and carefully digested it — so to speak — and I 
found it most unusual and interesting, and I am positive 
you are to be highly congratulated." 

M. E. Cadwallader, editor of The Progressive Thinker, 
Chicago, writes: "I have read 'Illustrious Mad-Men of the 
Ages' carefully and am much interested in its contents. Send 
me one dozen copies." 

[135] 



Guy Bogart, California poet, magazine writer and head of 
the Guy Bogart Press Syndicate Service, writes: "Your new 
book received and I am delighted with it, for it fills a niche 
in our literature that has not been filled before." 

Also, letters were received from Sir Harry Lauder, Ger- 
trude Atherton, Upton Sinclair, Henry Ford, New York 
Academy of Medicine, University of California and Dr. 
Abraham Wallace of London, an associate of Sir Oliver Lodge 
and Sir Conan Doyle. 



[136] 



TWO GREAT BOOKS 

NOW IN PREPARATION 

To be given to the world through 
the mediumship of 

MR. GEORGE FRANCIS 

of Los Angeles, California 
ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST PSYCHICS 



"THE EXPERIENCES 

OF 

LORD KITCHENER 

IN SPIRIT LIFE" 

This wonderful work will 

create a sensation. 



"THE KEY 

TO 

KNOWLEDGE" 

In book form or separate 
lessons. 



Regarding these books address all communications to 

MR. GEORGE FRANCIS, 

3055 East Fourth Street, 

Los Angeles, California, U. S. A. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESb 

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022 204 319 0i 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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